There may come a time when you no longer want to hand over your expensive laptop or sacrifice your desktop and all of its contents to the hands of your little ones, who just so happen to be very good at deleting your data and dirtying up your keys. If you are in the market for a system with software that is not overwhelming, is easy to use and learn, is very affordable and has a touch screen that responds with the first touch then the Lenovo N308 is your perfect match.

Main features and specifications:

19.5" LCD (1600x900) touch screen; 320GB HDD; 2GB RAM; 8GB EMMC

NVIDIA 1.8 GHz Tegra 4 T40S processor

OS: Android 4.2.2 (Jelly Bean)

720p webcam

Up to three hours battery life; standalone battery

Dimensions: 19.3 x 12.7 x 1.3 inches

Weight: 10.1 lbs.

One-year limited warranty

What We Liked:

Great For Any Age: Having owned numerous Android devices we found it very simple and quick to cycle between running applications and desktops on the N308. The touch interface on the screen is just like our mobile and allows for rapid access to applications and recognition of swipe gestures. For those users that did not grow up on a Windows or Mac desktop and are most comfortable in a mobile environment, this might be just what you are looking for. Integrating with Google services was smooth, including access to Google Maps, which quickly identified our current location geographically. The built-in 720p webcam was very handy and worked pretty well for Skype chats with little sound interference, although there was minimal pixilation distortion during calls.

Built-In Ports: This system's ports can be found on the left side of the monitor and include three USB 2.0 ports, a headphone jack, a 6-in-1 card reader, a power input and an Ethernet port.

Keyboard & Mouse: You get a standard wireless black Lenovo mouse and full keyboard in the box with this system. There is nothing to special about either, although they both work with the system via dongle, which can be found tucked inside the battery compartment of the mouse. Both responded well during our testing, providing an audible click with each push of the mouse or touch of a key and come with a set of batteries for both devices as well so you don't have to go digging in your drawer.

Standalone Battery & Price: This system boasts three hours of continuous use and we were able to get to the three-hour mark before having to plug back in. Not having to constantly have this unit plugged in is nice when you want to take it from one room to the other or simply do not have the outlet space to keep it plugged in all of the time. Although the price tag for this all-in-one is relatively low at around $350, keep in mind that you are paying for a system that seems quite behind the times.

What We Didn't Like:

Display & Sound Quality: Honestly, the 19.5" LCD display looks nicest when powered off. The housing for the display is closer to a 23" monitor, but with a usable touch area less than 20". The resolution at 1600x900, is significantly less than 1920x1080 and the display struggles to replay HD video in a resolution that looks anywhere close to HD. Icons and desktop images, specifically browsing the web appear pixilated and there is not any kind of option for adjusting the resolution on the display, only the font size. Most likely this is a limit placed on the device by the Android OS with inadequate hardware for this desktop as a whole. The display is dim at a neutral setting and the colors come across grayish, but if you turn up the brightness the colors quickly go from grayish to washed out. The display struggles with decent color reproduction and clearly lacks the color depth or spectrum of typical 19" displays. We were also less than impressed with the overall sound quality produced by the speaker, which barely filled the space in front of us let alone the room.

Power Button: The power button on this desktop is hidden on the back at the top right corner of the display and if you are like us you will try to start it up by pressing all around and along the frame looking for the button. We just saved you some time. Oh and by the way, the manual volume buttons are back there as well. Given that this is virtually an overgrown tablet and our fingers will supposedly be all over the front of the device, why not just put an easy to find power button in an obvious position, Lenovo?

Our Verdict:

Unfortunately, the N308 just seems outdated entirely. We are not sure who would want to watch or utilize graphics that are less than impressive, listen to sound that can barely reach the user let alone anyone else sharing your space. The whole system is reminiscent of many, many years ago. This all-in-one has a hard time standing up to or even equaling its rivals that are in the same price category and we feel that the system as a whole needs a major upgrade.

Dell says its new Inspiron 2350 is the world's thinnest 23-inch all-in-one desktop, and to our knowledge, that's a true statement. The slender profile is the first thing you'll notice when unboxing this sleek and sturdy AIO, and after you find out what it's capable of, you'll question why waited so long to make the jump from a tower-based PC to a system like this.
The Inspiron comes in three different baseline configurations starting at $1,000. Dell sent us it's highest end version priced at $1,400 and configured with an Intel Core i7 4700MQ processor, 12GB of DDR3-1600 RAM, AMD Radeon HD 8690A graphics, and a 1TB hard drive paired with a 32GB solid state drive for caching chores. It's a solid foundation, but the parts alone don't tell the whole story here.

We've been around the block with similarly configured systems before so we had a pretty good idea what to expect in terms of performance, but we had no idea how flexible the Inspiron 2350 would prove to be. From the adjustable monitor to the removable parts, this isn't your typical AIO. Suffice to say, this system impressed up, and tell you how it did that after a glance at the spec sheet.

What's Your Angle?: First of all, the Inspiron 2350's 23-inch touchscreen display is a brilliant performer capable of producing crisp colors and bright output. What's unique about the display, however, is that it the arm it's attached to adjusts from 90 to 180 degrees, giving you a choice between vertical or horizontal viewing, or anything in between. We don't know if tabletop computing is going to take off the way manufacturers hope, but if it does, the Inspiron 2350 will be ready for whatever killer applications developers come up to take advantage of it.

Premium Build Quality: At nearly 16 pounds, you won't throw your back out if you need to move the system to a different room, but it's also built to last. The system doesn't wobble, and it takes a bit of force to adjust the panel's angle. That's a good thing because it means you don't have to worry about it slowing tilting over time or having to readjust after so many finger taps.

Fast Boots, Great Performance: We'd prefer a dedicated SSD for the boot drive, but in absence of that, Dell went the next best route, which is to pair a 1TB 7200 RPM hard drive with a 32GB SSD. The SSD acts as a cache drive to speed up performance, including fast boots and quick program loads, but you also get a decent amount of storage space.

USB 3.0 Times Four: It makes no sense to use when an OEM builds a system with more USB 2.0 ports than USB 3.0. That's backwards thinking, and in this case, Dell got it right by equipping the base with four USB 3.0 ports and two USB 2.0 ports. One of them is occupied by a mini USB dongle, which communicates with both the wireless keyboard and mouse at the same time. While not confirmed, we strongly suspect these devices were built by Logitech for Dell.

Is There A DIY Surgeon in the House?: OEMs used to make it difficult for home users to service and repair systems on their own, and some still do, whether it's by using proprietary parts or, like Apple, preventing you from easily accessing the internal parts. Not only is the Inspiron relatively easy to open up and service if you're handy with a screwdriver, Dell takes it a step further by giving you step-by-step directions in the online user manual on how to access and replace a variety of parts, even the built-in camera. That kind of trust is much appreciated.

Quiet: The Inspiron 2350 is quiet enough to take residence in a library without eliciting stink-eye glares from patrons.

What We Didn't Like:

Limited Gaming Potential: If gaming is your primary focus, the Inspiron 2350 won't satisfy your needs, even with the Radeon 8650A pushing pixels around. Simply put, this is not a gaming box. At the same time, if you're willing to dial down the visual quality settings, you can get away with playing a fair number of games, just don't expect to play triple A titles with all the eye candy turned on.

Subpar Speakers: For PowerPoint presentations with audio or videoconferencing, the built-in speakers are sufficient. They're plenty loud enough to fill an average room. What they won't do, however, is belt out lows or any kind of bass. Like most AIO systems, the speakers trend towards being tinny.

No Optical Drive: The cloud has nearly rendered the optical drive obsolete, but if you still use discs, note that one isn't included here. You can, however, purchase an external optical drive as an added accessory during the checkout process.

Our Verdict:

OEM system builders should be sending "Thank You" cards to Intel for introducing Haswell. Intel's 4th Generation Core processor family brings strong performance to a variety of system types, and they're mostly affordable to boot. The Inspiron 2350 is another system that benefits from Haswell, though Dell still had to build a capable system around it, which the company did.
The 23-inch touchscreen panel features a brilliant display that's flexible and responsive, and because the majority of the hardware is housed in the base, it's able to maintain a thin profile, too. In fact, Dell says it's the thinnest 23-inch AIO around, and we don't know of another system that could challenge that assertion.

Outside of hardcore gaming performance, this is really the total package. The Inspiron 2350 offers strong performance across the board and is ideally suited to take full advantage of Windows 8. On top of it all, you're able to service and/or upgrade most of the internal components with little hassle, which is something that can't be said of many systems these days, especially AIOs.

At $1,400 MSRP, the Inspiron 2350 is a bit on the pricey side, but you also have to factor in that you're getting a high-quality 23-inch touchscreen monitor as part of the deal. Overall, the bang-for-buck is pretty good here, and if this fits within your budget, we have no hesitation in recommending the Inspiron 2350.

Lenovo must have caught wind that gamers are into aggressive designs because the company's new IdeaCentre Erazer X700 features a gnarly aesthetic that we haven't seen from the company before. The styling is more in line with what we'd expect to see from a premier boutique vendor, not a bulk OEM, which is a pleasant surprise.

Of course, looks will only get you so far. In terms of brawn, the configuration Lenovo sent us to review includes an Intel Core i7 3820 quad-core processor clocked at 3.6GHz (3.8GHz via Turbo) with 10MB of cache, 12GB of DDR3-1600 RAM, Nvidia GeForce GTX 660 graphics, and a 128GB solid state drive for OS chores flanked by a 1TB hard drive (7200 RPM) for storage duties.

It's a rather burly foundation, though the GPU is a few pegs down on the gaming totem pole. The upside to having a mid-range GPU is a somewhat affordable price tag. As configured, the Erazer X700 runs $1,700 (or several hundred dollars less when a coupon code is available from Lenovo)and includes several other amenities (see below), which isn't egregious for a gaming machine.
We put Erazer X700 through a workout; what did we discover?

Intimidating Design: Lenovo's now the top PC supplier on the entire planet, but at a glance, there's nothing about this machine that gives away its heritage as a bulk OEM. The large and heavy chassis sports aggressive angles and curves at every turn, it has a mesh side window (also angled), and plenty of blue LEDs. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, but if your preference is for a mean looking machine, the IdeaCentre X700 Erazer delivers.

Solid Component Selection: There are some things we would have configured differently (more on that later), but for the most part, Lenovo did a great job balancing price with performance when picking out components. By going with a mid-range GPU instead of a monster graphics card, for example, Lenovo is able to cram the Erazer X700 full with a high-frequency processor and gobs or RAM, and even managed to squeeze a solid state drive into the budget. These are the kinds of touches that will benefit every facet of computing, not just gaming.

High Resolution Gaming: Nvidia's GeForce GTX 660 graphics card may not be the top dog, but it's certainly capable of holding its own. In some instances, you can even get away with gaming at 2560x1600, the native resolution of most 30-inch panels. In Aliens vs. Predator, for example, the Erazer X700 topped 50 frames per second with the settings on Low. When cranking up the eye candy to Very High, framerates dipped to 22.5fps, underscoring that more pixel pushing power is needed to really drive a monster display, though with a little tweaking, it's still possible. At 1920x1080, the Erazer X700 didn't break a sweat, posting over 41fps with the settings maxed out.

Quality Peripherals: Bulk OEMs are notorious for bundling generic keyboard and mice with their gaming systems, and that's a shame. Kudos to Lenovo for bucking the status quo and bundling bona fide gaming peripherals with its system. The keyboard has an adjustable LED backlight and same aggressive design as the chassis, while the mouse looks like it was built by a third-party gaming peripheral manufacturer and rebranded for Lenovo. It even comes with an adjustable weight system.

Quiet: Thanks in part to the self-contained liquid cooling system, the Erazer X700 never gets really loud, even under load. It's not a silent machine, but it definitely keeps the noise level to a minimum.

What We Didn't Like:

Funky RAM Configuration: The X79 chipset that serves as the foundation of the X700 Erazer supports quad-channel memory, though Lenovo only populated three of the four DIMM slots in the configuration it sent us. That means it was running in triple-channel mode and not taking full advantage of what the memory subsystem has to offer. On the bright side, 12GB is a lot of RAM.

Middling GPU: We understand why Lenovo configured this particular setup with a GeForce GTX 660 graphics card, though if you need something burlier, higher end options are available. Just be prepared to pay a premium for them.

Cable Clutter: As a bulk OEM, Lenovo probably isn't in much of a position to spend a lot of time cleaning up cables. But hey, it's not up to us to make excuses for the company, and for a gaming series that looks to intimidate out of the box, Lenovo should figure out a way to clean up the clutter so that the inside is as impressive as the outside.

Our Verdict:

Hands down, this is the best gaming machine from Lenovo we've seen to date (and we've seen a few). It has the looks, the performance, and even the right peripherals, the latter of which is oft overlooked by bulk OEMs. From the moment you unpack the IdeaCenter Erazer X700 out of the box, you know you have a serious gaming machine on your hands.

Setup is easy -- just plug in a few cables and press the power button -- and performance is very good for the money. If you need an extra bit of oomph, there's an overclocking button on the front panel that works in conjunction with Lenovo's built-in software so you can goose the CPU without mucking around in the BIOS. It's not a failsafe approach to overclocking, though certainly accessible.

We'd like to see another stick of RAM added to this configuration for quad-channel memory mode, and a beefier GPU would complete the package. As configured, however, this is fast system with lots upside and not very many flaws.

HP is still chugging away at making quality Windows 8 PC equipment. They have a huge line of notebooks, desktops and all-in-ones that are trying to make your experience better. Just a little while ago, they began making the EliteOne 800 line, which is a line of touch and non-touch all-in-one desktops. There is a vast array of models to choose from. The model that HP sent us is a pre-production model, which has all the bells and whistles. Read on to see how this top-of-the-line model faired.

Main Features and Specifications:

1920 x 1080 Full HD Screen with 10-point capacitive touch and full rotating base for landscape or portrait use.

Windows 8 Professional 64-bit

Intel Core i5-4570S (2.9GHZ Dual Core with Hyper threading)

AMD Radeon HD 7650 Discrete Graphics

Micron RealSSD C400 256GB SSD

8GB DDR3 1600MHz RAM

Slim Tray-Load SuperMulti DVD Writer

3-year parts, 3 years labour, and 3 years onsite service (3/3/3) limited warranty

Full HD Touchscreen: We have never been really big fans of touch, but HP has done Windows 8 touch better than any other device we have tried so far. The screen is bright, clear and full of color. We really enjoyed watching movies, playing games, and just using the computer for whatever reason we could come up with.

Orientation Options: Like almost all other monitors on the market, the G1 has the option to turn the screen to portrait. We actually found that we enjoyed using the computer much better this way. It took up even less space on the counter and all the functions we wanted to perform worked perfectly. The 23" screen was more than enough to write a document or perform other landscape type functions. But where it really shined was in viewing web pages. The height and resolution combined made it so we almost never had to scroll down to look at something. This was a very good experience.

Performance: The G1 we received from HP is preproduction model with the specs listed above. This is a very fast computer. Boot up takes around 9-11 seconds and we did not find any tasks that took very long. We viewed several 1080p videos both streamed and played directly from the device. They all played very well. The only games we played were from the Microsoft store and they all worked flawlessly. The 8GB of ram allowed us to run several different processes and not see a bit of slowdown. Also, as we just mentioned, we streamed several different uncompressed direct rip Blu-ray MKV files (some over 40GB) and the Intel 6205 N adapter performed perfectly. HP, this is a great setup.

Peripheral Connections: The G1 came with more than enough ports for all the peripherals you might need to connect. There are 6 USB 3.0 ports (1 Fast-Charging), an SD media card reader, Gigabit Ethernet, 9-Pin Serial, Audio and DisplayPort. The USB 3.0 ports work as some of the best I have seen. We were able to transfer multiple gigabytes of data to an external hard drive with an average write speed of around 135 Mbps. All the connections are good quality and appear that they will hold up well for many years.

What We Didn't Like:

Heavy (Bulky): This is a very heavy piece of hardware. I know it's not supposed to be portable, but even moving it around on a counter was difficult. It does not slide well because of the heavy-duty rubber feet on the bottom. You have to basically lift it up and move it. The telescoping stand is a great feature, but makes moving it just a little bit harder. The bulk can be a good thing when you want it to stay in place, but it is not fun when you need to pick it up and move it.

Internal Speakers: The internal speakers do perform their task, but just barely. They could definitely sound better. In comparing them to other all-in-ones including the iMac and Lenovo models, they leave something to be desired. Connecting a decent set of speakers easily resolves this problem, but that's an additional cost. These speakers should perform better.

Price: With this being a pre-production model, we really didn't have any idea about what the price was going to be. Based on other G1 models in production, we estimated a price of approximately $1,600. Shortly after completing the review, it was revealed that the MSRP was going to be closer to $2,500. It is expected that all-in-one computers will cost more than their standard desktop or laptop counterparts, not including the touch interface, but for this kind of money, we just cannot justify the cost. This is probably the best all-in-one PC experience we have ever had, but the price is just a bit too much for us to overcome.

Our Verdict:

Windows 8 is the operating system that everyone loves to hate. It has had a difficult launch and has struggled drastically compared to the launch and acceptance of Windows 7. I personally have Windows 8 on two computers and have not had one bit of trouble with it. It's definitely different from its predecessor, but not so much that the average user would struggle much to figure things out. The HP EliteOne 800 G1 is a very good computer with good hardware and a grasp on what Microsoft wanted OEM's to do with their operating system. For us, the gigantic problem standing in the way of a purchase is a four-digit price that starts with a 2!

You may notice some similarities between this write up and the Envy 23 review we posted back in April, although this HP does not come with as many bells and whistles. Nonetheless, the Pavilion 23 is built for both work and play with a Windows 8 operating system and delivers faster than expected processor speeds. The 23" touch screen allows you to do everything from navigating the web to playing games, and a variety of customizable features let you get the specs you are looking for without spending a fortune in the process.

No Hassle Setup: This desktop is so easy to setup and is totally fail proof right out of the box. Just plug in the cables to the back and plug it into the wall and that's it. HP also includes a cheaply made wired mouse and keyboard in the box, but you will probably want to replace them with some of your own. Push the power button located on the top left-hand side to begin customizing your home settings and you are ready to go.

Touch Capabilities: Like the Envy 23, the touch screen on this desktop is truly impressive. With its 5-point multi-touch tech, you get instant response with even the slightest push of the screen. Watching movies and playing games became truly addicting, and we had a hard time pulling the kids away from all the tantalizing apps and games available to download from the store. If you decide that you do not want to use your keyboard for typing, simply switch over to the touch keyboard found under settings for full touch screen mode.

Daring Display: The HD display on this desktop is simply beautiful and we could not keep our hands off of it. This model came with Intel's standard HD graphics and they do not disappoint, most of the time. The graphics were best when playing games, but were lacking when it came to HD programming; more details can be found below.

Customize Your Desktop: Like all other HP's, this desktop is totally customizable so you can spend the amount you want and upgrade to the features that fit your style. This model starts around $850 and goes up from there depending on your personalized specs, which is not too shabby when compared to other all-in-ones on the market today.

Decent Audio: Although you don't get an upgraded audio system on this model, the sound quality of this desktop does a decent job. Don't get us wrong here, you aren't going to get deep bass and amazing tone range, but the speaker bar found along the bottom of this PC can fill a room without any problems.

What We Didn't Like:

Minor Grievances: We only had a few run ins with slow load up times, but they did occur and it was usually when we needed to get something done quickly. We also noticed that when we were in touch screen mode and wanted to switch back to using the mouse, the computer would freeze up and we had to go back to the start screen and reload our page in order to get any kind of response, which became very annoying very quickly.

Graphics Lacking: Much like the Envy 23, the display on many of the movies and TV shows we tried to watch on this desktop came across grainy and pixilated up close. Although colors were bright and the screen looks good, the graphics do not even come close to an older desktop that we still currently use today.

Dated Design: The Pavilion 23 is definitely a solidly built unit, in fact it may be a little too solid. At almost 2.5" at its thickest point, the design feels outdated in the lineup of today's all-in-one desktops. It seems that the team at HP has decided against modernizing even the simplest of features, like the cheaply made mouse and keyboard or the flimsy tray loading DVD player. Why have these items not been upgraded and made standard to a more modern, nicer keyboard and mouse or a slot loading Blu-ray player? These things may seem small, but they make the whole system just feel old fashioned and outdated. Also, we were not thrilled about the design of the support stand attached to the back of this desktop, which feels like it will break off if you have to move or adjust the desktop at all.

Our Verdict:

The Pavilion 23 All-In-One is a desktop that is built to perform for both work and play, but the touch screen feature really makes this unit shine. Of course you are not going to use touch screen mode every time you use your desktop, but it does come in handy for gaming, navigating through web pages, going through pictures and the list could go on and on. Unfortunately, HP still needs to step it up when it comes to this desktop's HD graphics and the outdated design and look of this system needs a modern overhaul.

There is a lot of talk about the desktop computer and its eventual extinction. While the world is definitely leaning toward the world of mobility and portability, there is a small, but growing, following of people who enjoy consuming all types of media from within the walls of their homes and home theatres. For years past, this meant finding ways to connect your laptop or even desktop computer to your big screen TV or projector. This growing desire has caused a renewed rebirth of small desktop-type computers called media center PC's. Initially, these were basically a second standard desktop computer that sat along side your media equipment. Gradually, the media center PC has evolved into a single purpose media machine. Lenovo has built just that; a small, slim, single purpose desktop home theatre computer. The IdeaCentre Q190 is a sleek, slim, media-consuming marvel. Its sole purpose is to provide a better way for people to enjoy their digital media without having to worry about where to place a laptop or standard desktop. If this sounds like something you might enjoy having in your home, read on to find out what we thought.

Main Features and Specifications:

Fully Functional Windows 8 Desktop PC

Compact Design

HDMI and VGA video connectivity

Full HD Graphics Support

6 USB Ports (2 X USB 3.0)

Ethernet and WiFi Network Devices

VESA Mount

S/PDIF Optical Audio Port

What We Liked:

Slim Design: Over the past few years, home theater PC's have become much more common place. One of the problems is that many of the home theater PC's are still too large and take up space on the floor or somewhere else even more noticeable and inconvenient. The Lenovo IdeaCentre Q190 is literally no larger than a 500 page hardbound book. This allows the machine to be placed in any inconspicuous place you deem appropriate. We talk more about placement in the section below, but suffice it to say, the size is definitely a good thing. (As a side note: Like any computer, the Q190 does require sufficient airflow. Make sure that the tower is placed so as to receive sufficient airflow to keep the machine running cool.)

Functionality: The IdeaCentre Q190 performs its job as a media center PC well. With the desktop hooked up to a 40" 1080p TV over HDMI, the graphics and media looked very good. We played several different types of media files, both off of a USB drive and using network streaming. Even when taxed with playing a 40GB MKV Blu-Ray rip of Avatar, the IdeaCentre performed the task well. The lack of an included DVD drive prevented full media center functionality. Lenovo offers an external DVD solution, but if your media library includes Blu-rays, we would recommend purchasing an external Blu-ray drive to provide a better media center solution. Several drives from other vendors can be purchased to resolve the lack of disc support.

Mount/Placement Options: One of the many problems people run into with a media center PC is placement. Earlier we mentioned the slim design and how it adds additional placement options, but Lenovo has gone even one step further. The Q190 includes a stand for basic mounting, as well as a VESA mount for mounting the computer to the back of any VESA standard television or PC monitor. Many people do wall-mount their televisions, which would then seem to prevent the VESA mount from being very useful. We would recommend that the VESA mount could easily be used as a wall-mount device. A couple small drywall anchors would keep the computer held safely and securely.

Connectivity: Another huge benefit for the IdeaCentre Q190 is its many different connectivity options. With both physical and wireless network connectivity, HDMI and VGA video connections, 6 USB ports (including 2 USB 3.0), and S/PDIF and 3.5mm standard audio connectors, there are few if any peripherals that you won't be able to connect to this great little desktop. We tested the full range of these connections and found everything working properly and with little effort on our part.

Price: Lenovo has definitely done pricing right once again. The MSRP on the Q190 is between $359 and $399. As of today (June 19, 2013) on Lenovo's site, they have a discount offer for $299. Whether discounted or not, this is priced right for a simple media center device.

What We Didn't Like:

Overall Performance: We mentioned that during our testing, the Q190 performed media functions well. An interesting note to that point is that while applications seem to run ok, they seem to take a longer to open and close on the Q190 than we have experienced in our previous Windows 8 equipment tests. Browsers take multiple seconds to launch and bring up home pages. Once the browser is launched, moving from site to site, or viewing online media seemed to work ok. VLC player, which we used to play the high-definition media, would also launch slowly, but thereafter played all the media we threw at it. We did not do any extensive gaming testing on the Q190, but we would assume that anything beyond basic gaming would most likely cause significant performance issues.

Included Peripherals: The "idea" (pun intended) that Lenovo sells the IdeaCentre with wired peripherals is beyond all comprehension. Especially if the computer is mounted to the back of a television or in an A/V enclosure. We would highly recommend purchasing a decent wireless keyboard. The best solution would be to purchase a good Bluetooth keyboard and mouse. That would give the best range over a standard wireless keyboard set.

Our Verdict:

Media Center PC's are wonderfully useful and add a new dimension to home media entertainment. The ultra techie may not mind having a giant computer tower sitting out next to his or her home theater for everyone to see, but the general tech populous very well may mind. The Q190 is a simple and quite good solution for those who just want to use the media center for playing media. This is definitely not a gaming rig, but it does fulfill its claim of being a sleek, slim, media interface. We can overlook the laggy performance because, overall, it does do its job. The hardware is definitely not top of the line, but it works. After our testing, we really wanted to keep this device, but back to Lenovo it went. We would like to thank them for sending it over. For that reason, we felt that a score of 4 was definitely justified.

Hello Haswell, nice to make your acquaintance! Intel's 4th Generation Core processor line is here and OEM system builders are wasting no timing injecting the Santa Clara chip maker's newest silicon into their desktop and laptop offerings. What we have in for review today is Dell's XPS 8700 built around Intel's Core i7 4770 CPU.

As configured (see below), the system will set you back $800, though cost of entry into the XPS 8700 line is $700 (same specs except the processor is downgraded to a Core i5 4430 chip, also a Haswell part) before any applicable coupon codes you might run into. In addition to Haswell, the XPS 8700 utilizes discrete graphics in the form of an AMD Radeon HD 7570 GPU with 1GB of GDDR5 memory. Combined with the 8GB of fast DDR3-1600 memory and 1TB hard drive spinning at 7200 RPM, the XPS 8700 is primed for daily computing chores and light gaming.

Does it live up to its potential? You know the drill -- we'll cover the highs and lows right after a peek at the pertinent specs:

Packs A Processing Punch: Intel's Haswell architecture is really geared towards mobile form factors, which will be the biggest benefactors of the power saving tweaks Intel made underneath the hood. That said, Haswell packs a punch and the Core i7 4770 is a particularly fast chip with a stock clockspeed of 3.4GHz and max turbo frequency of 3.9GHz. It's also equipped with four physical cores, eight processing threads, and 8MB of cache. It's the second fastest Haswell chip currently available, and our benchmarks bore that out.

Lightweight and Stylish: Even though you probably won't be moving the XPS 8700 around a whole lot after you set it up, it's worth noting that it's fairly lightweight compared to other higher-end desktops we've played with. It's also an attractive tower with a glossy front panel, silver accents, and just enough curves to give it character without appearing gaudy.

Respectable Gaming Performance: This isn't a system to play the latest titles on a 30-inch monitor with a 2560x1600 resolution, but then again, few rigs possess that kind of pixel pushing power. At 1920x1080, the XPS 8700 proved capable of holding its own, though your mileage will vary depending on the game you're trying to play. In Aliens vs Predator, for example, average framerates dipped to 15.7 with the settings cranked up to High, but at Low settings, it pulled its bootstraps up and managed 28.6 fps. In Lost Planet 2, it ran a buttery smooth 47.7 fps at low settings.

Lots of USB 3.0 Ports: You get a total of six SuperSpeed USB 3.0 ports to play with, plus an additional four High Speed USB 2.0 ports. In a perfect world, all the USB ports would be of the SuperSpeed variety, but we can manage just fine with half a dozen.

Price To Performance Ratio: The bang-for-buck factor is pretty high here. As configured, the system runs $800 and isn't bound by proprietary parts, meaning you can upgrade components on your own with little hassle. We also like that it comes with a discrete graphics card, which isn't always the case at this price level.

What We Didn't Like:

Where's the SSD Option?: At this price point, we don't have any qualms about the inclusion of a hard drive, especially since it's spinning at 7200 RPM and equipped with a SATA 6Gbps interface. What chaps our hide, however, is that Dell doesn't even offer a solid state drive (SSD) option. That's an automatic loss of 200 geek cred points, especially since "XPS" is supposed to stand for "Xtreme Performance System."

Ho-Hum Peripherals: The bundled keyboard and mouse are serviceable, not spectacular. Again, we're not that concerned at this price point, but Dell should at least offer higher-end components during the configuration process.

Our Verdict:

Dell did a fantastic job balancing price and performance with its newly minted XPS 8700 desktop. The heart and soul of this system is Intel's 22nm Core i7 4770 processor, the second fastest Haswell chip currently available. It's flanked by 8GB of high-frequency RAM and a discrete graphics card, and with all three working in tandem, you have a multi-talented desktop that's just as comfortable pouncing on productivity chores as it is playing games, albeit you may have to lower the visual quality settings on today's more demanding titles. That's a perfectly acceptable compromise for an $800 machine.

Therein lays the biggest selling point. At $800, you're not looking at having to sell your first born to afford a system like this, and it's not all that more expensive than a high-end tablet. It is, however, much more capable. Navigating Windows 8 is fluid, it boots up fast, and programs load and run smoothly.

Our main gripe is the lack of upgrade options. If you want more than 16GB of RAM, a Blu-ray drive, or an SSD, you have to jump ship and swim over to Dell's XPS 8700 Special Edition, which starts at $1,549, or $1,849 if an SSD is a must. You could argue that anyone shopping in the sub-$1,000 doesn't care about having an SSD, but given the recent price drop of flash-based storage, we'd have to disagree.

Nevertheless, the XPS 8700, as configured, is a burly system without a beastly price tag. And since it's not using proprietary parts, you're free to perform upgrades on your own.

All in one systems have been changing significantly in the past few years, moving from larger and boxier systems to slim machines that could rival television screens. These computers have also been packing in many more features to attempt to compete with laptops and desktops, as well as the rising popularity of tablets. As a result, the latest trend for these comprehensive systems is to turn the computers into giant tablets that allow multiple users to interact with it at the same time. The Horizon 27 is Lenovo's latest all in one, and was specifically designed to be what is known as a table PC. Thanks to its new desktop interface (known as Aura), users have a new visually appealing way to interact with photos, videos and other files on the computer. The all in one even came with gaming peripherals to enhance your entertainment. Find out what we thought about the system after a quick spec breakdown:

Design: While all in ones have been consistently getting thinner in the past few years, the Horizon is a system that looks like a giant tablet propped up on a stand or a flatscreen TV that hasn't been mounted on a wall. The overall design is very slick, ranging from the monitor's curved edges to its anti-glare display which is designed as the obvious focal point of the system. The layout of the system is intuitively made, which is evident via the monitor's touchscreen controls on the front of the bezel, as well as a lone power button on one side and the ports of the computer on another.

The design even extends to the extremely thin keyboard and the wireless mouse -- the mouse by itself deserves specific attention thanks to its rotation feature in its base that turns the device on or off. Finally, the hinge on the rear of the machine allows users to adjust the angle to the machine by simply move the system from standing upright to lying flat in a smooth motion with the slightest amount of pressure. In fact, you can use a few fingers to shift the machine, which makes its conversion from all in one to Table PC incredibly easy.

Table PC Mode: The table PC mode stands out from other systems in a few ways. Initially, it lets the 27 inch display shine, virtually eliminating color shifting or screen darkening. The monitor displays a slight amount of color shifting or screen darkening, but these issues are completely eliminated when the system is placed flat. Secondly, thanks to the Aura interface, multiple people can interact with content on the system; in particular, at least four people can interact with the machine at the same time.

Aura Interface: Aura is a visually striking interface thanks to its overlay on top of Windows 8. Users can open multiple picture, video and music files at the same time, allowing you to decide what media will be open at any point in time. This also packs in pre-loaded games, educational apps and the Lenovo App Store, which features programs specifically vetted by Lenovo to work on the system. It's also unique thanks to its dial and gesture mechanics which helps you access files and control media. For example, to access grouped files in the Aura interface, you spin your finger around the dial on the screen, akin to an old rotary dial telephone. Interacting with files can also be handled via gestures, like grabbing files and throwing them offscreen to remove them from the desktop. You can also rotate and share specific files with friends, or categorize them into groups. It's a tactile and more visually interesting way of interacting with a computer than the standard touch features of Windows 8.

Touch Gaming: The Horizon's table presentation was excellent when it came to gaming and using the gaming accessories that it came with. The system was packed with games from Ubisoft, EA and various Android games, and many of them were more enjoyable thanks to the inclusion of the strikers, joysticks and e-dice. The strikers were great to use because it really helped us play Air Hockey matches on the 27 inch surface, which could definitely get intense thanks to the enhanced control. The joysticks provided better directional control during rounds of Raiding Company than simply relying on the screen controls. The real stand out for the peripherals was the e-dice; thanks to its sensor technology and wireless transmission via USB dongle, it was possible to charge and roll the dice up to 10 feet away from the system and have the value on the face of the dice be recognized by the game you were playing. That places a different spin on playing board games like Monopoly or Lenovo Tycoon, and is much more interactive than just flicking your finger across the screen. It's really awesome, and draws you into the game.

System Performance: The Horizon 27 was packed with a lot of apps and casual games that weren't technically strenuous, but the machine could play more visually demanding games thanks to its video card. The 620M isn't the latest video card on the market, and you won't be able to play every game at its maximum settings. However, you can still play through a lot of games without significant system strain or problems. The same can be said about manipulating HD images or watching a lot of HD streams, which could be done without a problem. Even better, regardless of the load we put on the system, it never got too loud or hot; instead, it ran at a low hum.

Sound Presentation: The Horizon 27 could pump out a surprising amount of sound, which could easily fill an entire room. We found ourselves turning down the volume because the audio could be powerful depending on what we were watching or listening to. The Horizon 27 might not have bass, like many other all in ones on the market, but it could still hold its own with clean high and mid tones for movies or music.

What We Didn't Like:

Internal Battery and Weight: The Horizon 27 comes with an internal battery in case you want to set up the system in a different part of your house while it's still running. That assumes that you'll want to move the system a lot once its set up, because the machine doesn't really come with handles, meaning that unless you use the included totebag, you won't necessarily want to carry this unit around. The system isn't extremely heavy (it's only around 18 pounds) but the unit isn't balanced well, so it's a bit more of a hassle to do this.

Anyway, if you look beyond the fact that the battery is sealed into the system itself (which will be a problem once it dies), the battery life is horrible as well, We found ourselves lucky if we managed to get two hours performing basic tasks like web browsing with the system unplugged, and that would be demolished further with intensive work or gaming. The battery just seems unnecessary, especially when you'd probably just want to keep the machine plugged in.

Hard Drive Space: The Horizon 27 packed a 1TB hard drive, but thanks to the inclusion of the Aero Interface, pre-loaded games, Android files, recovery apps and other software, you lose almost a fifth of the storage on the system before you even power it up for the first time. Clearly, you're not going to eliminate Aero from the system because it's tied to the functionality of the computer as a table PC, but it also means that the elimination of some of the bloatware will probably have a minimal impact. That's not so great.

Aero Screen Sensitivity: The touchscreen of the Horizon 27 was responsive to commands when it was placed upright, but once the computer was placed into tablet mode and Aero was activated, it managed to lose track of many gestures made on the screen. That meant that some of the functions, like grabbing and flinging media or grouping files together would take multiple attempts to get the system to respond, if it would respond at all. This was particularly demonstrated in certain games, like Texas Hold'em, where it could be extremely difficult to pick up and view your cards before decided to place a bet. In fact, we could only attribute the sensitivity issues to the system trying to determine whether it was responding to a Windows 8 gesture, game command or Aura gesture. The end result is that the computer probably just got more confused with each command.

Our Verdict:

The Horizon 27 is a great example of how all in ones are slowly evolving from the bulky machines of a few years ago to slender table PCs for the family. It's a powerful, quiet system that really draws users in thanks to its large touchscreen, which is sharp and let multiple people interact with the system at the same time. It also featured a strong sound presentation, and a conversion from a solitary experience into a device that the whole family can enjoy. Aura's focus on multiple users with video, images and audio is the largest selling point for the system. Unfortunately, the Aura sensitivity could've been much better than it actually is during use, and the pre-installed files could also take up less space on the hard drive. However, even with these negatives, the overall experience with the machine is still a positive one that demonstrates what all in ones are becoming.

There are an awful lot of computing devices out there vying for your hard-earned money. Laptops, tablets, All-in-Ones, and even to this day, the venerable desktop system. Each type of system has its place, and plenty of people still hit that "Confirm Order" button for a desktop system after weighing the pros and cons of the alternatives. Today we look at a new desktop system from Dell, the XPS 8500. What is XPS? We couldn't find a definitive answer on Dell's web site, but popular opinion puts the meaning as Xtreme Performance System. So just how extreme is its performance? We'll tell you, but you just know we're going to look at the features and specs first, right?

Great Performance: Boot time averaged 45 seconds, about what we'd expect for a 7200-rpm hard disk. The hard disk is the slowest component in the Windows Experience Index, measuring a ho-hum 5.9. That's where the ho-hum news ends, though, because the graphics scores in WEI were a respectable 6.9 for both Windows Aero and Gaming graphic performance. Better still was the Core i7 processor, which hit 7.7 on WEI, and top component was RAM, scoring 7.8. What this means is that actual performance pretty much screams in terms of raw power (the top WEI score is 7.9). New devices took about 1-2 seconds to locate and load drivers and be ready for use. Every task (and multi-task) we undertook: photo editing, browsing with up to 20 open tabs, live streaming video, desktop publishing ... everything was processed with satisfying speed, no hesitation, no stuttering, no endless spinning cursors. The Core i7 and 8 GB of RAM tear through tasks.

Latest Technology Inside: Ivy Bridge: According to Intel (and intel), Ivy Bridge is more power efficient, is faster on apps and graphics, and offers overall performance improvement of 5-20%. High-definition gameplay and rendering HD video can see even greater performance boosts, up to 100% in some cases. However, since the XPS 8500 has a discrete graphics processor, the GPU improvements over previous Intel HD graphics versions are not really relevant. Ivy Bridge chips also include support for PCI Express 3.0 and USB 3.0, and these improvements are certainly pertinent to the XPS 8500.

USB 3.0: Faster. Better. Seriously.

Bluetooth 4.0 LE: The latest Bluetooth standard is implemented, which incorporates high speed and low energy enhancements, as well as improved device discovery and security improvements. We paired a Bluetooth speaker on initial setup, and never had to manually reconnect after that; simply turning the speaker on re-established the connection and selected the speaker as the audio output device. Beyond any gains in power efficiency and performance, a PC with the latest technology promises a bit of increased longevity for the system, as it will not be outdated quite as quickly as buying end-of-lifecycle units at bargain prices.

Quiet Running: We used the XPS 8500 for hours and hours on end, and never heard more than a faint whirr from the fans and a faint tic-tic from the hard drive.

Expandability: We popped the side off the XPS 8500 (easy to remove with one thumbscrew and a bit of rearward push/pull) and had a look around. There is an empty bay for an additional optical/5.25" drive, as well as a bay for an additional 3.5" drive (we count 2 free SATA ports and power supply connectors). (There also appears to be an empty floppy drive bay, but we couldn't find an IDE connector on the motherboard, and there is no way to access a floppy drive with the current front panel configuration ... not that more than a few folks would be too interested in adding a 1.44 MB wonder.) While the system as reviewed is configured with 8 GB of RAM, there are 2 empty slots on the motherboard, so you can expand up to 32 GB. There are also 3 empty PCI Express slots (the PCIe x16 slot is filled with the Radeon 7570 GPU). We found one free 6-pin power connector. The power supply is rated at 460 watts, and the eXtreme power supply calculator recommends a 242 watt supply for the installed components if you count the current class of GPU, or 206 watts without a GPU. So the current power supply can take some additional load, if you desire to upgrade or expand the system in the future. Intel Rapid Store Technology, which is one of the included apps, provides a wealth of information for managing SATA devices should you opt to add or reconfigure any in the XPS 8500.

USB 3.0 Front and Rear: We like seeing the 2 easy-to-access front USB 3.0 ports (as well as 2 top-side USB 2.0 ports), plus 2 more USB 3.0 ports in the rear. In addition, there are 4 more USB 2.0 ports in the rear. Total of 10, 4 of which are USB 3.0. Nice! We also appreciate the vertical mount of the front USB 3.0 ports, since several of our USB 3.0 flash drives are extra wide and have trouble fitting in horizontally mounted ports when 2 are plugged right next to each other.

Blissfully Little Bloatware: Sure, there is always nagging anti-virus software, but we actually liked one feature of the included McAfee Security Center: a context option to Shred a selected file. Skype was on there too, but many people consider that useful software. Dell included a few of its usual offerings: DataSafe Local and Online, and Dell Digital Delivery. We can't count their Support Center software as bloatware ... it just has too much good going for it. Intel Control Center did little other than link to the Intel Rapid Storage Technology app, which looked pretty useful to us. Finally, there was a Qualcomm app called Smart Net that provides some control over communication, performance tuning, and tweaking network traffic, but these seem to be some pretty esoteric settings for the average user to dabble with.

Dell Support Center: If for no other reason, we like the Dell Support Center app because of all the information it provides (almost like having a functional copy of Everest again). There is a summary section, and every subsystem has a section with all the relevant information provided. You can also easily access Backup & Recovery options, download updated drivers, and access local and online help solutions.

Supports USB Charging While Sleeping: You have to go into BIOS to enable it, but the XPS 8500 supports charging via USB ports while the PC is sleeping. That's a feature we always like, since at any given time, we always have some device that needs to be charged.

Mouse Has Sensitivity Button: Our primary impression of the mouse was not very favorable (see "Noisy Wired Keyboard/Mouse" below), however, we really liked a small button at the center of the top that lets you toggle among 4 sensitivity settings. LEDs indicate the current sensitivity setting. In a multi-user setting, this feature is welcome, since different users often prefer different sensitivity settings.

Restore Partition: We'll always give a nod to a manufacturer for including a restore partition. There is no easier way to get back to a factory-fresh state than with a protected restore partition. (Using the included Backup/Recovery tools can make restoring personal data to the factory fresh image a snap, too.) It took us just a bit over 10 minutes to do a full factory restore, with less than 5 minutes on top of that to get through initial Windows 7 setups and boot to the squeaky clean desktop. That's one of the fastest recoveries we've ever performed.

Goodlookin' Too: The piano black glossy front is a bit of a fur/fingerprint magnet, but it sure is pretty. The bottom of the front panel also has a chrome-look finish, and a strip of chrome outlines the front panel. Sides are sturdy metal with a pebbly texture and matte finish, and the top is plastic with the same matte finish. All in all, it's an attractive, if subdued look.

What We Didn't Like:

DVD Feels Cheap: Tiny deduction for the cheesy feel to the DVD-RW. The tray that pops out feels super inexpensive and seems like it will break instantly if you bump it the wrong way. However, it performed without problems, so the deduction is primarily cosmetic, with a hint of worry about longevity, especially in a home use situation where kids (who are not always careful) might be involved.

Noisy Wired Keyboard/Mouse: We think this may be one of the most annoying mice we have ever used. It is wired (Strike 1). It has no smooth scroll option (Strike 2). And, it has a very loud scroll wheel (Steerike 3). It's as if Dell wanted to make sure that everyone on the same floor as you is aware that you are scrolling. The primary left and right buttons are pretty loud too. (Note that we invited an impartial third party to come over and surf on the system for 5 minutes. Within 15 seconds, the person said, "This is a really annoying mouse.") Even the keyboard keys manage to be loud, though we like the overall low profile of the keyboard. We were also somewhat surprised to find no NumLock key on the keyboard. You have to go into BIOS to lock/unlock the numeric keypad's alternate functions. Seriously? This is your XPS system, Dell ... couldn't you find some decent (quiet) wireless peripherals lying around in the warehouse?

Our Verdict:

The Dell XPS 8500 has been designed with bleeding edge technology such as an Ivy Bridge processor, USB 3.0, and Bluetooth 4.0. Performance is as good or better than most of the PCs we have tested lately, with the fast Core i7 processor and 8 GB of RAM making short work out of all the tasks we threw at it ... no matter how much we multi-tasked. Other good features we liked were the quiet operation, attractive design, and truly useful inclusions such as Dell's Support Center app and a dedicated restore partition. We liked having USB 3.0 ports on both the front and rear of PC, and really appreciated being able to turn on USB charging while the computer is sleeping. Bloatware factor was on the light side. With bleeding edge tech to take the XPS 8500 into the future, should the day come when some upgrades are needed, there is room for expansion too, with free PCI Express and RAM slots, small and large drive bays, free power supply and SATA connectors, and some headroom on the power supply. Other than a couple of cheap feeling/sounding components (the DVD tray, mouse, and keyboard), there is little we could find to criticize in the Dell XPS 8500 system. This is one solidly performing, solidly designed PC, with some room to grow.

The search for an all-in-one PC can be a frustrating one. Where one performs well, it lacks the extras, while others look nice on the outside but lack the storage and memory space you need. It can be hard to find one that fits all of your criteria. With the Lenovo C325, you get performance, durability and a screen that produces sharp and clear images, it could be the PC that will last you for years to come.

Main features and specifications:

AMD E450 Processor

Windows 7 Home Premium

20" LED backlit (1600x900), 16:9 widescreen display

Integrated AMD Radeon HD 6320 graphics

Up to 8GB DDR3 memory, up to 1TB HDD storage

Integrated high-speed 802.11b/g/n Wi-Fi

Integrated DVD reader/writer

USB 2.0, USB 3.01 connectors and 6-in-1 card reader

Supports SDXC format

Integrated 0.3MP Lenovo High-Sense webcam

1-year limited warranty

What We Liked:

Set-Up In Seconds: There is no doubt about it, this desktop is easy to plug-in and set-up. It took us less than ten minutes to get everything out of the box and plugged into the monitor, and it was ready to go. Another plus with this PC is that it comes installed with Google Chrome, a huge step above Lenovo's ever-present installation of Internet Explorer. The model we tested out had 4GB of memory and 500G of storage space, which is good enough for web surfing, listening to music, reading emails and downloading occasional games or movies. The upgraded model has 8GB of memory and 1TB of storage.

On The Lighter Side: Weighing in at around 23.5 pounds, it is not the lightest all-in-one out there, but it can definitely be transported from one location to the next without a problem. Upon first glance, the sides are a little thick at 3.25 inches, but after awhile the whole look of the C325 molds together and comes off looking very decent and clean cut when compared to other all-in-ones. This device will fit nicely on a little desk in your dorm room, in the upstairs office or on the table in your office.

Take A Look: The all-in-one C325 is a sturdy and well-proportioned PC, with a full-metal stand and 20" screen, it was built to please. We like the design of the speakers, which you will find below the monitor, as well as the ventilation, which is found along the top of this PC. When you look at the monitor straight on, the layout is simple and effective for those moments when you want to quickly adjust the volume or the monitor's brightness. The volume, brightness and monitor on/off buttons are found on the bottom right of the monitor. To the left you will find the power button, built-in IR receiver, hard disk drive indicator, wireless LAN indicator and the LCD on/off indicator. The top of the C325 is equipped with a built-in mic and Lenovo's 0.3MP webcam, while the anti-glare monitor produces clear, well- defined images from any viewing angle. Take a gander at the right side of the device and you will find the pop out DVD tray. The left side houses the memory card reader, two USB ports and a headphone connector. The backside of this PC showcases a simple layout as well with an Ethernet port, four USB ports and a power connector. Even the most novice of computer users will have no trouble setting up the C325.

For the most part, we found this Lenovo to run quietly and it sits nicely on most any desk space. The only times we noticed any noise from the C325 was when we downloaded a file or program or woke it up out of sleep mode.

Angles For All: We appreciated the ability to adjust our viewing angles on this monitor, from -5 to 25 degree angles, you won't have a problem finding the angle that is best for you.

Impressive Sounds And Sights:

You are not going to get stellar basses out of these speakers, but the sound you get is sharp and clear. Since the sound is produced from speakers found below the monitor, you can turn up the volume without blowing out your eardrums. We also appreciated the ability to play our music without having to booting up the whole computer with the audio-in port. The screen on this PC is stellar and produced high-quality color and imaging every time, so watching movies, TV shows and video conferencing was a pleasure.

Money Matters: The C325 series range in price, but start around $699 and go up from there, so you don't have to worry about draining the bank account.

What We Didn't Like:

Blast From The Past: There are a couple of things that we wish Lenovo would have modernized or put into this machine before selling it. The pop out DVD tray on the upper right hand side of the computer feels cheap and left us wondering why it was not made to be more modern with slot-loading capabilities. This PC has no HDMI output, no FireWire and no Bluetooth either, so if these items are on your checklist, this is not the device for you. There is no ability to utilize the monitor for anything else either since there is no input to hook it up with any other device. The overall design and feel of the C325 comes off outdated and reminded us of a Dell we used back in 2008, a problem that we have encountered with many Lenovo models.

Touch Screen Not Included: The C325 does come with touch screen capabilities, unfortunately we did not get to test them out because we received the lower end model. Bummer.

The Basics: You get Lenovo's basic keyboard and mouse when you buy the C325 and you will probably want to switch them out as soon as possible. Our overall feeling with the make of both devices was that they felt and performed cheaply. These are your bottom level accessories, so plan on dishing out a little extra to get better quality and performance for this PC.

Useless Extras: A lot of the software that comes installed on Lenovo's devices are honestly those that we never use or try out. The Rescue System is nice when you have a catastrophic hardware malfunction and are about to lose data and so is the dynamic brightness system, which adjusts the brightness of the screen according to your surroundings. Mostly though, you get a lot of useless pre-installed software that no one ever touches, like the Eye Distance System, Windows Live Toolbar, YouCam and the never ending pop ups from McAfee, just to name a few. Lenovo, please start making and installing programs and software that are relevant to today's technology needs.

Our Verdict:

As we mentioned, the overall design of the C325 does look somewhat outdated, but it is a strong performer and can hold its own when compared to other all-in-ones on the market today. We recommend that if you do decide that the C325 is the right PC for you, to spring for the higher model in the series, this way you have more storage and memory, as well as touch screen capabilities.

All-in-one desktops occupy a very unique niche. In the simplest sense, they are a compact desktop computer, with all the individual peripherals integrated to create a single unifying design. There are advantages to this quality alone. The AIO's smaller footprint gives you more freedom to clutter your desk with other odds and ends. Having the guts of the computer contained within the same chassis as the monitor also minimizes cable clutter. And not insignificantly, these AIOs exude a style and elegance that is rarely seen in the traditional desktop design. Of course, with advantages there are also caveats. Often, a sacrifice in size directly correlates with compromised performance and upgradeability. Fortunately, technology moves at such a rapid pace that today's second-best is still faster than yesterday's cutting edge. Simply put, although today's AIO hardware may not match the best that today's standard desktops offer, they are often powerful enough to outperform the previous generation's best.

However, AIOs should not only be considered simply as "compact desktops"; they have evolved in function as well as in form. Over the generations, the AIOs have incorporated several features absent in most standard desktops, some of which include a touchscreen display, A/V connectivity normally found on HDTVs (HDMI, component, S-video, RF), multimedia content introduced through built-in TV tuners, integrated webcams and microphones, integrated wireless networking, and more. These extraneous features have pushed the territory of the AIO beyond its native "office" habitat. Your mainstream desktop can now become so much more.
Today, we review one such all-in-one desktop, the HP Touchsmart 520. The 520 shares many traits to the Touchsmart 610 we reviewed in the past but with some minor differences. These include less flexible tilting adjustments, a new aesthetic design, and a slightly different upgrade path when you first configure your computer on HP's website. Think of the 520 as a slightly less expensive and less powerful brother to the 610. Specifications for the configuration we reviewed are listed as follows:

Performance: The 520 comes equipped with an Intel Core i7-2600s 2.8GHz Quad-Core Sandy Bridge processor. The "s" at the end of the processor name identifies the CPU as "low voltage". What Intel simply did in this case was underclock the 2600 from 3.4GHz down to 2.8GHz in order to decrease power consumption. This is a performance drop when compared to the original 2600 processor, however the 2600s is still powerful enough to handle pretty much any mainstream application, even those that require heavy CPU usage. We noticed no slowdown when running multiple browser windows, playing video files, or working in more intensive applications like Maya and 3DS Max. On a side note, the i7-2600s is considerably more powerful than the i5 2.7GHz and 3.1GHz processors found on the newest 2011 iMac. The iMacs also use "low voltage" Sandy Bridge processors, however Apple went with i5 instead of i7 CPUs. Although i5 CPUs are quad-core, they do not support hyper-threading, which means there are no extra virtual cores. The i7-2600s in the Touchsmart 520 DOES support hyper-threading, which means you get 4 real cores AND 4 virtual cores. This makes a huge difference in applications that support multiple cores.

The Radeon HD6450 video card is fine for streaming 1080p video and for playing Blu-Ray movies. We experienced no performance related hitches while watching video. Please be aware, however, that this card is simply too underpowered for any intensive PC gaming. The HD6450 is designed primarily for media center PCs in order to run HD video and provide the necessary inputs that integrated graphics options do not provide. If you are considering PC gaming as part of your repertoire, we would recommend you configure your 520 with a more powerful graphics card, since there is no way to upgrade this afterwards.

We did experience one area of slowdown, and that was during startup. This will be mentioned later in the review.

Design: As expected of an AIO, the 520 occupies a very minimal footprint on your desk. All the internals are neatly built into the same chassis as the screen. Surprisingly, the cabinet depth is not much thicker than a standard LCD monitor. We've had a few people pass by and express genuine surprise that the LCD monitor was actually a fully-fledged desktop. Aesthetically, the 520 eschews any gaudy embellishment. A simple solid black bezel encompasses the screen, and the whole unit is supported by a sturdy silver stand. Although the 520 doesn't have the high-end panache of the all-aluminum iMac (the chassis of the 520 is made almost entirely of plastic), it maintains an unobtrusive and slim profile that can easily fit into any home decor.

Having an all-in-one design also minimizes the number of cables snaking on top of, under, and behind your desk. Thanks to the built-in wireless networking and included wireless keyboard and mouse, one power cable is all that is needed to start spilling your creative juices. This also means that the 520 is not as "tied down" to one location unlike a traditional desktop. Simply unplug one cable and the 520 can be moved elsewhere. Furthermore, there is a recessed handle on the top edge of the monitor, presumably so that you can move it between rooms if necessary.

Screen: The screen is another highlight of the 520, although it is not without flaws. 1920x1080 is, in our opinion, the perfect resolution for a 23 inch display. Colors are relatively accurate out of the box and adjusted very well after we calibrated with a Pantone colorimeter. Maximum brightness level is good (although not blindingly bright at highest settings like some other displays). Viewing angles were generally very good when looking straight on or slightly off-center in all directions. Tilting your head towards the left or the right causes the screen to take on a yellow shift relatively quickly. Moving your head above or below the screen causes it to darken noticeably. Sharpness of the image, however, is still quite good at these extreme angles, and despite these color/brightness shifts, it is still entirely possible for more than one person to enjoy the movie from different seating positions. Speaking of sharpness, we did notice that the screen was not as razor sharp as most other displays we have reviewed. There appears to be an ever so slight out-of-focus look to icons and text. It is minor enough that during long term usage our eyes quickly adjusted and this issue did not distract us. It was unique to this display, and we assume it is the touchscreen interface that creates this illusion.

Obviously what is most unique about the screen is the touch capability. Overall we were very impressed with the accuracy and response of the touch screen. Our finger movements were tracked quickly and precisely. HP has made it entirely possible to be able to navigate to every function of this computer without the use of a keyboard or mouse. Basic tasks are accomplished by simply touching your finger onto the desired programs, windows, or buttons on the screen. More complicated commands can be accomplished with double taps, swipes, and simple gestures. If you are familiar with the gestures on the MacBook, you will feel right at home with the 520. If you needed to type or input hotkeys, an onscreen virtual keyboard is easily accessible for you to touch-type the command. HP also includes a nifty program called HP Touchsmart Magic Canvas. This program essentially opens up a separate desktop that is intended to be more gesture friendly. You can pin notes or graffiti right on the wall, interact with the carousel on the bottom to access several handy little apps like weather, eBay, music & video, surf the web with a more touch friendly browser and more. This is a good alternative for those who plan to use this computer more as a multimedia station (i.e. at the kitchen, kiosk, living room) than as a dedicated desktop.

What We Didn't Like:

Future Upgradeability: One of the most common, and justified, complaints of the AIO form factor is the inability to individually upgrade many components. In general, the only way to upgrade most of your components, including the processor and graphics card, is to upgrade to stronger options when you first buy your desktop. Once it is in your hands, swapping out components is either too difficult or too time consuming, not to mention you will most likely void your warranty. The problem is that computer technology moves at such a breakneck pace that your currently very capable specs will undoubtedly need an upgrade down the road.

To be fair, HP does it better than most brands with the 520. Removing the rear housing to access the RAM and hard drive requires less steps and HP provides helpful visual directions on their website for accomplishing this. Nevertheless, we do NOT recommend these procedures to anyone not familiar with opening up a PC.

Bloatware: Partly because of HP's overly robust multimedia suite and the Touchsmart (touch-sensitive) software, you will be greeted by a multitude of unnecessary programs and add-ons pre-installed on your shiny new computer at startup. Not only does this affect the startup performance of the computer (which it does quite noticeably), it is downright irritating. The first time we opened an Internet Explorer browser, we were greeted to a few toolbars requesting to be added to the browser interface. This does not count two different toolbars which were ALREADY added without any permission (Norton AntiVirus toolbar and Bing toolbar). We strongly suggest when you first turn on this computer that you remove all the extraneous items you may not need, and there will be quite a few. However, it is important to leave the HP specific programs alone, since some of these programs are critical for touchscreen and multimedia functionality.

Our Verdict:

We were impressed by the Touchsmart 520 for its power, versatility, and design. Despite its reasonable price and compact footprint, the 520 impresses us with its performance thanks to its powerful Core i7 hardware. Although it is perfectly fine for your 520 to be a primary workstation computer, you should be aware of the fact that the 520 is versatile enough to take on other roles. All the features, from the touchscreen functionality to the multimedia additions are well implemented in this model. We specifically recommend this computer for two types of buyers - (1) those who want a smaller, more compact computer with plenty of power and a large screen and (2) those looking for a computer that can double up as a capable multimedia center. If you fit one of these two brackets (and most of you probably do), we'd recommend you play test one of these at your local brick & mortar store.

All in one systems are frequently touted by computer manufacturers as the center of a home's computing experience. They combine televisions, desktops and monitors into one package, and the newer systems toss in the added advantage being touch screen enabled. However, these frequently come with a downside of being rigid and unflexible, which can become a user unfriendly experience over time. This can frequently cause some users to abandon the touchscreen functionality in favor of the traditional mouse and keyboard controls.

HP has decided that it wants to reinvigorate the concept of all in one computing by trying to make the experience more social, more inclusive, and more ergonomic. Its solution is the TouchSmart 610, a machine designed to adjust to your family's need and become the nerve center of your home's computing experience. How well does it accomplish these tasks?

Very Strong Performance: We recently reviewed the Dell Inspiron One 2320, and we were impressed by its specs. However, by checking the Windows Experience Index, the TouchSmart 610 actually managed to edge this system out with its ratings. The TouchSmart received a 7.6 for RAM operations and a 5.9 for hard drive transfer rate, but that's where the similarities end between those two systems. The TouchSmart received a 7.6 for processor calculations and 6.7 for both desktop performance and 3D gaming performance (with all of these stats topping out at a maximum of 7.9).

Needless to say,this system is more than powerful enough to stick around for a very long time. We were pleased to run a large variety of programs without any slowdown, and we were able to play a number of recently released games like Batman: Arkham City and Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 without any problems. Even better was the fact that the system was incredibly quiet -- we only detected a slight hum from the fan after multiple hours of use.

System Design: The TouchSmart 610 has very distinctive lines reminiscent of a flatscreen TV, which stands out from other all in one systems on the market, which can be seen as large, boxy units that are lacking in personality or style. HP managed to compress every component for the TouchSmart into a unit system that could easily fit into an office, dorm room or sit atop a kitchen counter. The majority of the inputs for the system have been placed on the rear of the system behind a pull down door, which hides the USB 2.0, audio, Ethernet and coaxial cables for the system. This is a smart design choice that helps focus attention on the screen of the unit and works pretty well for the most part, but we noticed that the space behind the pull down door becomes particularly crowded when you plug in a number of cables, particularly considering that coaxial cables aren't exactly the most flexible cables out there.

Recline Functionality: Most all in one systems are fixed units attached to a stand or pedestal, and while they may provide a slight shift in angle, you basically have a heads on display at all times. The result of this forces your arm to remain parallel to the ground, which becomes extremely tiring after a while and usually results in people abandoning touchscreen functionality in favor of traditional mouse and keyboard input. The TouchSmart solves this by tilting forward five degrees and sliding backwards up to 60 degrees, making it almost completely flat. This shift in system orientation gives the TouchSmart some advantages other all in ones don't have. By sliding the system almost flat, users can rest their hands on the bezel of the all in one, making it more ergonomic and eliminating the arm fatigue issue.

Reclining the system also makes it much easier to gather people around to play games, watch shows or browse websites. This is particularly true for little kids that may have a bit of a harder time with seeing higher screens, as the system will shift to come closer to them. While it's still possible to use the wireless mouse and keyboard included with the system to control the unit, it's much more engaging to users to crowd around the unit and use the system.

Magic Canvas (When Everything Works Perfectly): This is the fifth evolution of the TouchSmart Software for touch enabled machines, and the TouchSmart 610 really lets users interact with their machine in a large number of ways. Sure, you can launch programs by double tapping on the desktop, but the true star of the system is the Magic Canvas feature, which brings users to a colorful and interactive desktop where you can use magnets (interactive thumbtacks) to pin written or verbal notes, video or audio files, photos and frequently visited websites. That makes it easy for a family to leave notes to each other about missed phone calls, what dinner will be that night, or other important details.

There are more than a dozen apps pre-loaded in a carousel format that highlights the entertainment features of the system, like launching Rhapsody or the HP movie store for music and films, as well as view TV shows through Hulu or Netflix. That's without using the live TV browser and Windows Media Center interface to turn the system into a DVR. Users can pull up news through RSS feeds, browse the web, and interact with Facebook friends and Twitter feeds with customized apps. The system even comes pre-loaded with UbiSoft's R.U.S.E., a strategy game that was designed to take advantage of touchscreens, and cooking apps with recipes if you choose to use the system in a kitchen.

Display Quality: Like most touchscrens, the TouchSmart 610 supports multi-touch gestures for commanding files and windows with swipes, flicks or pinches. But apart from these obvious commands, the display is unbelievably solid across virtually every facet of the system. It's possible to press down hard upon the screen without any discoloration, waves or visual impacts that many all in ones suffer from. Content shown on the screen was crisp and clear, particularly with Blu-rays and streamed media, which looked very sharp. Minor cases of noise and artifacting cropped up here and there, but they were minimal compared to the detail of the screen.

There was a rather interesting quirk of the viewing angles of the system, which changed based on the tilt of the unit. If you left the system head on, you'd run into some color shifting at some of the extreme angles of the system. However, if you tilt and recline the system the full 60 degrees, the viewing angles essentially disappear. The only potential recreation in this configuration we noticed was by looking at the system from the bottom of the table at an extreme angle, which you'd never do. This makes it incredibly versatile, meaning that you could easily gather a number of users around without crowding the screen.

HP Linkup: Do you have a wireless display enabled television that lets you display the content of a smaller screen on a larger monitor? Probably not if you haven't bought a new high end set in the past two years. However, you'll actually be able to take advantage of this thanks to the HP Linkup feature, which lets you connect a remote computer by your wireless connection. The Linkup feature displays a virtual desktop of the remote system on the TouchSmart's screen, giving you the chance to display a smaller laptop on a much bigger screen without using WiDi adapters or external items. Thanks to Linkup, you can also control the system solely by the TouchSmart touchscreen, and you can even trade files between Linkup systems easily, without relying upon thumb drives or cables. That makes the Linkup feature effective in both home and business settings.

Beats Audio: HP has been refining the Beats Audio presentation of its speakers for quite some time now, and it definitely shows off with the TouchSmart 610 -- they were some of the loudest speakers that we've tested on an all in one or a laptop. Bass thumped with solid reverberation, while mid and high tones from acoustic music were crisp and beautiful. We didn't even need to mess with the Beats audio control panel to get these excellent levels, though adjusting them enhanced our sound even more, and we didn't have to turn the speakers past 50 percent of the maximum volume to get room filling sound that was overwhelmingly loud.

What We Didn't Like:

Magic Canvas (When It Doesn't Work Well): We liked the convenience of the Magic Canvas, but we found that the majority of problems that we had with the system came with the Magic Canvas when elements of it simply stopped working the way we wanted (or hoped) that it would. The Canvas seems unreasonably limited to the set of pre-installed apps that were provided with the system. All of the documentation for the Magic Canvas doesn't indicate a way of adding new apps or programs to the carousel that aren't direct from HP. So, if you buy a new program or want to add a separate app that you find more useful than the ones provided (like Tweetdeck, for instance) you can't put that in the carousel. It appears that the only additions you can make to the carousel are webpages; that's a useful feature, but rather limited when it comes to computer usage.

We did find it strange that the system doesn't give you the option to automatically launch into the Magic Canvas either. As a feature that really works to highlight the touchscreen functionality of the device, it would've been better if the system automatically launched into the canvas, or if there was a customized startup screen that let you auto-launch to either the canvas or desktop. As it stands now, you essentially have to leave the system on and in sleep mode (although you're not guaranteed that it will stay in the Magic Canvas mode).

The Canvas also added some lag to the touchscreen functionality, which we didn't notice when the system was on the standard Windows desktop. We found lag with transitions across the canvas desktop, as well as lag with the launching of an app or recognition of some commands. It would take a few taps on the screen and up to ten seconds before programs would launch -- something that didn't happen on the standard desktop. We also noticed some strange quirks as well, like some intermittently slow browser launches or the fact that the pre-loaded R.U.S.E. game actually went straight to Steam instead of launching from the system itself (that wasn't make or break, but it was an interesting decision since, as we mentioned earlier, you can't carousel other games you add to the Touchsmart) Finally, we discovered that the Netflix app on the carousel didn't recognize our username and password, while launching the browser app and navigating to the Netflix website worked perfectly fine.

Overall though, these issues are to be taken with a grain of salt -- you're not forced to use the Magic Canvas feature at all, and the convenience of the feature, when it works well, is a big bonus for the system.

No USB 3.0: We loved the specs of the TouchSmart 610 -- it's clearly been designed to be a machine that will last for years, but it's an odd design decision to not include even one USB 3.0 port on this system. Tons of desktops and laptops are transitioning to these superspeed ports, but it's not even an option for the Touchsmart. That means that users will be forced to rely on outdated and slow transfer speeds when they're trying to archive music, movies or other files, wasting time in the process.

Our Verdict:

We were very impressed by the Touchsmart 610 -- it's a system that beautifully designed, and it's both robust with its power and innovative with its functionality. The computer's specs are packed in a slim, compact frame that can take virtually everything you throw at it without any slowdown issues, and it's light enough to carry from place to place in the house without being bulky or seeming out of place. It's also clearly an entertainment powerhouse, with the TV tuner functionality, enhanced Beats Audio speakers and large screen that displays disc based and streamed content sharply. The tilt functionality is innovative, and brings the machine closer to users, drawing them in to use the touchscreen functionality.

We liked the Magic Canvas feature as well, because we thought that it was a visually engaging way to get users to interact with the machine. We thought that the addition of apps and other functions, like notes and media functions really highlighted the entertainment aspects of the computer. Unfortunately, we there were a lot of quirks within the Magic Canvas, like some lag and limited expansion of items for the carousel that restricted the feature. Since you're not forced to use the Magic Canvas, it's a somewhat tolerable issue, just as the exclusion of USB 3.0 ports, while not a make or break oversight, is a definite detraction.

Overall though, the TouchSmart 610 is easily one of the best all in one's on the market, and if you're interested in a computer in this class, you should definitely consider this machine.

All-in-One computers have been around a while now, but they seem to kind of peek out around the corner, timid, afraid to put themselves out there and say, "Hey, I'm here, and I can do it ALL!" And with manufacturers striving to contain costs and provide an affordable home entertainment computer, sometimes reviewers have been hard on the genre. But it's not because the concept was ever flawed. It's always about execution, execution, execution. So here we have a new All-in-One computer from Dell, the Inspiron ONE 2320. Now, this bad boy's got nothing to be timid about. For us, the Inspiron 2320 is nearly the ultimate home entertainment computer. What did we find to back up that assertion, and why is it only nearly the ultimate? Stay tuned to see our findings, right after we take a look at the specs.

JBL Speakers @ 5W average per channel, peak power up to 10W per channel, Frequency Response: 100Hz-20kHz

Bluetooth 3.0

WiFi 802.11b/g/n

Intel WiDi

6 USB 2.0 ports (4 rear, 2 side)

Gigabit Ethernet (10/100/1000)

Video Inputs: VGA, HDMI, composite video with stereo audio

Antenna input

IR Blaster

Optical audio (S/PDIF) output

Wall-mountable with Vesa mount

Microphone/headphone jacks

Discrete volume and brightness side buttons

8-in-1 Media Card Reader with mic

Dimensions: 22.4"w x 16.9"h x 3.1"d; Weight 20.6 lb

Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit SP1

What We Liked:

Excellent Performance: The Dell Inspiron ONE 2320 is powerfully equipped. An Intel Core i7 quad core processor running at 2.80 GHz provided a Windows Experience Index rating of 7.5 (the performance scale tops out at 7.9). The 8 GB of RAM scored a blazing 7.6 on Windows Experience, and the 2 TB hard disk drive scored 5.9 on Windows Experience. Rounding out the Windows Experience Index ratings is a Gaming Graphic Performance rating of 6.6, and a general Windows Aero Graphic Performance rating of 5.5 (the lowest subscore). What do these numbers mean? This computer is fast. Plug in a USB flash drive, and it is ready to go (including loading drivers the first time) within a second. With 4 physical cores and hyper-threading on each, and 8 GB of RAM, you can run a silly number of programs simultaneously with good performance across the board.

ATSC/QAM Tuner With Windows Media Center Remote: We've recently discovered how to expand the limited capacity of our FiOS DVR ... use a separate HTPC with Windows 7 Media Center and an attic antenna to record all our favorite network shows on the computer. Windows 7 Media Center is a robust performer as a media manager, TV interface, and DVR. The included Windows Media Center remote was a bonus, and was full featured, with media controls (play/pause/fwd/rwd/stop), directional buttons, numeric keypad, volume and channel controls, as well as several function buttons. The Inspiron ONE 2320 provides an onboard ATSC tuner and a huge 2 GB hard disk drive to get you most of the way to having a full-featured DVR ... you just provide the antenna.

Extensive Entertainment Options: We really liked the number and variety of ways to enjoy using this computer. From playing and recording OTA TV, streaming video over WiFi or Gigabit Ethernet, fingerpainting on the screen, creating music with touch-enabled applications, playing BluRay discs or DVDs, streaming music ... it could take months to discover all of the capabilities, and much longer to explore their uses. Even without the included touch-optimized apps, a touchscreen makes every program touch-enabled. Microsoft Paint goes from being the little red-headed program to a whole new experience in creativity. A large variety of inputs let you connect your other video devices too, further enhancing the entertainment capabilities. This computer is too good to hide away in an office; it wants to be in the family room to enhance the whole family's entertainment options.

Designed With Staying Power: The well chosen hardware and software components make the Inspiron ONE 2320 a computer with staying power; it will not be obsolete in 6 months, and will remain competitively equipped well into the future. With a powerful processor, generous RAM, and a huge hard disk drive, it is up to pretty much any task, with the sole exception being playing the latest graphics intensive games at high settings. What it can do is sail though productivity and entertainment programs and store a ton of music, pictures, recipes, homework, even recorded video.

Decent Sound: The JBL speaker bar behind the bottom bezel of the Inspiron 2320 provided good balanced sound in virtually all our tests. With live TV the sound was rich, with streamed video from Amazon's Video on Demand the sound was equally good. Streamed music was generally good, though the speakers disappoint with music that demands a lot of bass power. The speakers just don't crank out sound below 90 Hz. Stereo separation was good. Acoustic music sounded great thanks to a lush midrange and nice crisp treble. We definitely recommend using the Realtek HD Audio control panel to tweak the sound settings, as you can set profiles for movies, music, and gaming, enable the excellent SRS Premium Sound enhancements, etc.

Wireless Keyboard + Mouse: We really liked the convenience of the wireless mouse and keyboard. While the mouse was pretty basic, the keyboard was low profile with soft-touch, quiet chiclet keys.

What We Didn't Like:

Mediocre Viewing Angle On Display: The full HD display was good in the sweet spot, and in about a 45 degree wedge off-center (to each side), but beyond that region, the display took on an orange color cast very representative of TN LCD panels. With all other components in this excellent All-in-One being higher end, it was a bit of a disappointment. Wall mounting, which the Inspiron ONE 2320 is capable of, will help you past this limitation, since increasing the distance to the screen widens the sweet spot somewhat, however, it limits your ability to comfortably use the touch screen. If you're close enough to touch it, then sitting to the left or right edge of the screen is going to provide a disappointing view. (An articulating wall mount might help address this shortcoming: you can push the computer to the wall for movie watching, and move it forward to interact with the touch screen.)

No USB 3.0: Now with the fantastic specs that the Inspiron ONE 2320 has, we were a mite disappointed that there were no USB 3.0 ports. Even midrange computers are offering USB 3.0 these days.

Our Verdict:

We were impressed by the performance of the Dell Inspiron ONE 2320 All-in-One, with a fast Core i7 processor, 8 GB of RAM, 2 TB hard disk drive, built-in ASTC/QAM tuner, Blu-Ray multi-drive, and a slew of inputs for connecting video sources. This is a PC that the family can enjoy in so many ways, with live TV viewing and recording, video playback and streaming, and a multi-touch touch screen that allows the younger set to explore a variety of visual and audio creativity options. But those powerful specs give you a computer that is for more than entertainment; this thing will tear through pretty much any productivity, budgeting, planning, photo or video editing, or any other program you can think of. What kept this computer from being at the pinnacle of the All-in-One genre was a display with a mediocre viewing angle. The All-in-One should give a family -- and we're thinking that's at least 3 people -- the opportunity to watch the same show at near distance. And, with the Inspiron 2320 you can, but the 2 off-center viewers are going to see the picture with an orange cast, or theyre going to have to move several feet away to avoid the color cast. As well, the lack of USB 3.0 was a surprising compromise on this otherwise powerfully-equipped computer.

PC hobbyists often compare tuning PCs to working on cars. It's an oft-used analogy, and it's a philosophy that serves as the foundation for Maingear. A pair of gearheads named Wallace Santos and Jonathan Magalhaes actually considered getting into the business of modding and tuning cars before founding Maingear, a boutique system builder with a no-nonsense approach to piecing together and tweaking high-performance PCs. You won't find any bloatware on Maingear's rigs, just name-brand hardware neatly assembled and sometimes overclocked.

Maingear's Vybe series is a line of gaming desktops for the masses. They're slightly compact, comparatively affordable, and in the case of the Vybe S reviewed here, it's ready to ship the same day you order it. Maingear recently updated its Vybe line with a new chassis (BitFenix Shinobi) that apparently lends itself to faster turnaround times. In addition to the pre-configured Vybe S, Maingear also offers two configurable models, the Vybe SE and Vybe SS (Super Stock).

The overall goal with the Vybe series is to sell a custom PC experience without the traditional high price tags that typically attach themselves to boutique builds. Admirable, sure, but is it realistic? Let's find out.

New Chassis Design: Maingear likes the BitFenix Shinobi because it somehow speeds up turnaround time; we like it because it looks and feels rad. We don't make it habit to grope our computer cases, but you can't help but to fondle the front and top panels made with the same awesome rubberized coating as your smartphone. Why aren't more case manufacturers doing this?

Attention to Detail: These guys know how to build PCs, and even though the Vybe takes aim at a mainstream audience, build quality isn't sacrificed. The interior is tidy with cables neatly tucked out of the way, and we like that Microsoft's free Security Essentials antivirus software comes pre-installed and updated. Plug this puppy in and you're ready to go.

Where's the Bloat?: Look all you want for third-party crapware and useless utilities, you won't find any of that here. Maingear advertises a strict "Zero Bloatware" policy and follows through by not selling out to third-party software makers. Because there wasn't any trialware or other junk weighing our system down, the Vybe S booted in just 42 seconds and took 10 seconds to shut down. Those are impressive benchmarks for a system with a mechanical hard drive.

Overall Performance: From synthetic benchmarks to real-world testing, the Vybe S is a speedy machine, at least for day-to-day computing and multimedia content. It performed particularly well in Futuremark's PC Mark 7 and Vantage benchmarks, where it managed to outpace a slightly better equipped HP Pavilion machine.

Loyalty Program: For those interested in such a thing, Maingear's "Loyalty Program" takes some of the sting out of frequent and semi-frequent upgrades. Maingear will give you 33 percent of the core system's main value towards the purchase of a new system within the first six months, 25 percent during the second six months, and 15 percent during the third six months. In reality, you'd be better served selling your system on eBay or Craigslist, but if you want to avoid the hassle, you might find it's worth accepting a little less for the convenience.

What We Didn't Like

No Customization? No Fair!: One of the selling points of the Vybe S is that it's pre-configured and ready to ship the same day you order it. That's cool and all, but it comes at the expense of not being able to upgrade parts before you order. If you want to customize your build, you have to step up to the Vybe SE, which starts at $1,129 compared to $949 for the Vybe S.

Skimps on RAM: System memory is dirt cheap these days, and has been for quite some time. Combined with the fact that the Vybe S is a gaming system, 4GB of DDR3 RAM feels skimpy. The Vybe S should come with twice that much, and since it's pre-configured, there's no way to upgrade before submitting your order.

Anemic Graphics Card: The Vybe series might have recently been updated, but the videocard is a year old and already showing its age. Even when it first came out, Nvidia's GTS 450 wasn't a scorcher, and a year later it's a passable solution for casual gaming, but not much else. Maingear should really consider bumping this up to a GeForce GTX 550 Ti or Radeon HD 6790, both of which offer a little bit better performance for just a few bucks more.

Our Verdict

You can still head over to Maingear and spend several thousand dollars on a no-holds-barred custom system like the Quantum Shift, and hey, more power to you if you have that kind of disposable income to throw around. For the blue collar working man, however, Maingear's Vybe S delivers the same boutique build quality without the wallet busting price tag.

Gaming performance is nothing to brag about, and that's unfortunate since you can't upgrade any part of the pre-configured Vybe S before submitting your order. On the flip side, if framerates are of the utmost concern and you wanted to spend more on a beefier videocard to begin with, the middle tier Vybe SS runs $180 more, is customizable, and ships with a GeForce GTX 560 graphics card by default (plus a few other upgrades).That doesn't excuse Maingear's decision to use a GTS 450 in the Vybe S (or just 4GB of RAM), but it does put things in perspective.

Otherwise the Vybe S is a speedy machine. It's also well-constructed, affordable, and a pleasure to gawk at, inside and out. This is the full boutique experience folks, and it's available for less than a grand.

MSI has designed the WindTop series of All-in-One computers to bring the multi-touch experience we all enjoy on our smartphones and tablets to the full 20" HD computer screen. WindTops feature a variety of touch-enabled programs geared primarily to young children, but the All-in-One is equipped for family use as a light-purpose entertainment system too. With the ability to stream content wirelessly, or to enjoy your collection of DVDs and CDs, the WindTop offers a variety of entertainment options. So how does the WindTop fare as a family-oriented All-in-One system? We'll have a look at that question, right after we pop the hood and have a look at the specs:

Easy Setup: Unbox, adjust the stand, plug it in, attach the keyboard and mouse, and turn it on. You're ready to go.

Sturdy, Stable Design: We like the stable design that keeps the WindTop from blowing -- or falling over. The All-in-One rests on 2 widely spaced front feet, with a rear kickstand. The kickstand provides substantial support, and the action is stiff to prevent accidental closure. Each of the feet has a rubbery bottom that keeps the WindTop from moving around easily. Finally, even if you position the kickstand so that the All-in-One stands nearly upright, most of the unit's weight is in the rear and low, which helps reduce any tipover risk.

Great Screen Quality: The WindTop had one of the better LCD screens that we have seen lately. We watched standard def DVDs and streamed 720p video from Amazon Instant Video. The screen had great viewing angles. This is especially important in a computer that is targeted at family use for things like watching movies and doing other activities together at the All-in-One.

USB 3.0 Ports With A Super Charger Port: We're really happy to see USB 3.0, with its vastly improved speeds, finally making it into mainstream computers. The WindTop's 2 USB 3.0 ports are easily accessible on the side of the case. The front-most of these 2 USB ports is a Super Charger port. When Super Charger is activated, the port delivers extra voltage for charging high power devices like tablets, or faster charging of less high-powered devices. In addition, we love that the port is active for charging even when the All-in-One is turned off. However, when Super Charger is active, data transfer on that port is deactivated.

Ample Storage: With a 1 TB hard disk drive, MSI understands that entertainment systems are going to need some storage space for music, video, photos, etc. As well, a system designed for family use is going to have several people sharing storage space, so 1 TB is a reasonable choice for storage capacity.

Good Sound: For watching movies, the built-in speakers actually do a reasonable job. There was a nice crispness to the treble, and even some bass to give those explosions a little oomph. The SRS Premium Sound helps get the most out of the built-in stereo speakers, with a wide range of settings to let you adjust playback and recording parameters.

Touch-Enabled Learning Utilities: This All-in-One has "family use" written all over it in the included touch-friendly utilities. There is a central application called WindTouch, with a calendar at center, weather at the top, and side panels for a photo gallery and access to a music player. At the bottom is a control to access other touch-enabled applications such as WindABC (for learning to make letters by drawing them), several games, and a couple of nifty art programs that let you draw and paint on screen. Many of these programs are geared to young children, while others offer fun and creativity to older kids. You can exit WindTouch when you want to return to normal mouse and keyboard operation, or switch between the 2 modes if desired.

Quick Wake-Up: The WindTop woke from sleep in a fast 5 seconds. If you like having quick access to your system, but like to save on energy usage, this is a great compromise state. Just be sure you don't leave documents open, and ideally keep it connected to a UPS.

Attractive Design: If you're going to have a PC designed to be used by the family and to be placed in a central location, it ought to look good. The WindTop's frame is a clear Lucite, and the high gloss black LCD bezel seems to float in the air. The keyboard and mouse (most of it) are also glossy black. We found it quite attractive. Just be sure to keep the included microfiber wipe handy, because this All-In-One is going to have fingerprints (and dust, and pet fur) All-Over it.

Recovery Partition: Recovery partitions are becoming the norm in PCs today, and it's a trend we like to see. Recovery got us back to a factory fresh state in about 15 minutes, with another 10-15 minutes to complete the setup process.

What We Didn't Like:

Low Windows Experience Index: With an Index of 3.8 (on a scale of 1.0-7.9), this WindTop is not as quick as the wind. The score is determined by the lowest sub-score, which in this case is the processor. While the dual core AMD E-350 can handle multiple tasks with equal ability, overall processing power is a bit weak. While doing photo editing in Paint Shop Pro, there was a lag of more than a second between moving the mouse while using the clone tool, and seeing the motion on the screen. This is not great performance. Even using the touch-sensitive art programs, there is a noticeable lag between the swipe and the brush stroke appearing on the screen. For best performance on this unit, you'll need to turn off all the eye candy like Windows Aero and set the control panel to "Adjust for best performance."

Loud Fan: This one sounded like a small lawnmower kicking on when the CPU got hot. It seemed to run frequently while viewing DVDs, and obviously when performing CPU-intensive tasks like photo editing. For most general light duty use, the fan seemed to come on for only short periods. Mercifully. MSI should have been a bit more alert to the fact that this system is not going to be under the desk, but right there in people's faces. For a system that is geared to entertainment options like movie watching, hearing a loud fan turn on in a quiet dramatic moment is pretty jarring.

Wired Keyboard and Mouse: For a great looking, compact computer like the WindTop All-in-One, we sure would have liked to see a wireless keyboard and mouse. Since All-in-One computers like this one often spend their lives on kitchen counters, or in family rooms, the uncluttered nature of wireless accessories is even more important.

No LED For the Webcam: While you can adjust the webcam exposure in settings, often there just isn't enough light indoors in the evening for a decent picture. The more you boost the settings in software alone, the grainier the picture gets. A simple LED for illumination helps a lot.

Our Verdict:

The MSI WindTop All-in-One brings to the table (or counter) a fine looking, well equipped, touch-enabled computer that is geared toward family entertainment and childhood learning uses. A quality 20" HD touchscreen with great viewing angles helps it achieve these goals, and the variety of source options (wired LAN, Wi-Fi b/g/n, and a built-in DVD/CD player) make it easy to get the content. In addition, a generous 1 TB hard disk drive gives you plenty of room to store your content. Fast USB 3.0 ports on the side are easily accessible, and one of them can be enabled as a Super Charger port to rapidly charge devices, even while the WindTop is turned off. However, while the AMD E-350 dual-core APU provides the power to multi-task without bogging down, its overall performance is lackluster. A needlessly loud cooling fan will not be a big problem in general usage, but is jarringly loud when it comes on during quiet scenes in movies. For general family entertainment and learning applications, the WindTop All-in-One offers some good features and reasonable performance in an attractive package.

Let's be frank, shall we? Lenovo isn't the first name that comes to mind when we think of gaming PCs, just as we don't associate Tiger Woods with the NBA's Slam Dunk contest. If you want to talk about business machines, then sure, Lenovo's a bonafide all-star, but gaming rigs? Lenovo's just not interested in competing, or so we thought. Turns out we were wrong.

Lenovo's K Series IdeaCentre PCs offer "raw power for serious gamers," the company's website claims, and the K330 we're reviewing here is the highest model number in the K Series lineup. The build we received sits in the middle of three available K330 configurations and packs an Intel Core i5 2500 processor clocked at 3.30GHz, Nvidia GeForce GT 440 discrete graphics card, 8GB of DDR3 system memory, and a 1TB hard drive spinning at 7200RPM. That's not enough to qualify for a dream machine, but on paper, it's a solid foundation. What about in practice? We'll get to that in a moment, but first, a glance at the full system specs:

Intel Core i5 2500M processor

Nvidia GeForce GT 440 discrete graphics

8GB DDR3-1333 RAM

1TB hard drive (7200 RPM)

Blu-ray reader/DVD burner combo

15-in-1 memory card reader

8 x USB 2.0 ports; HDMI; GbE LAN; Optical SPDIF

Tool-less design

Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit

Price: $800

What We Liked:

Jack-of-all-Trades Performance: Any machine brandishing a Core i5 2500 processor and 8GB of DDR3 memory is bound to throw its weight around in general purpose computing chores and higher end assignments like content creation. Lenovo's K330 is no exception and strutted through our barrage of synthetic benchmarks and real-world testing. The system was responsive, booted up in less than a minute, and never struggled with day-to-day tasks or multimedia workloads. Want benchmarks? The K330 score higher than 11K in PCMark Vantage, and just over 3,000 in PCMark 7, both of which represent real-world workloads.

Dressed to Impress: Lenovo's latest K Series systems are much more attractive than previous versions, like the OEM's 3000 K100 tower from a couple years back. Gone is the garish tin can tower design (check out Google to see what we mean) replaced by a combination of brushed black aluminum, glossy accents, and a subtle orange trim along the top. It's also compact, so if you don't want to show it off on top of your desk, you shouldn't have any trouble tucking it discretely out of the way. All in all, Lenovo's K300 proves that an OEM system doesn't have to be an eyesore.

Light On Bloatware: The K330 isn't overloaded with trialware, toolbars, and other third-party software that we have no interest in using, let alone sharing system resources with. That isn't to say Lenovo didn't slip in an item or two -- we could have done without McAfee's preinstalled antivirus trial software and its nagging popups -- but by and large, you won't have to spend a ton of time shoveling unnecessary software into the recycle bin.

Look Ma, No Tools!: From thumbscrews that hold the side panel in place to tool-less caddies for hard drives, you'll never have to reach for a screwdriver when mucking around inside the K330. That's impressive for a bulk OEM and a feature typically reserved for boutique system builders that cost a pretty penny.

Handy Dandy Handle: On top of the K330 sits a built-in plastic handle that makes lugging the system around from room to room a breeze. You could even tote the K330 to LAN parties with relative ease, provided all your gamer friends haven't joined the dark side (consoles) by now.

What We Didn't Like

Ho-Hum Graphics: As we pointed out, Lenovo claims the K330 offers "raw power for serious gamers," but the Nvidia GT 440 card is perhaps a little too raw for the supposed target audience. It's not that you can't game on the K330, because you can; the K330 cut through Left 4 Dead 2 like a hot knife through ice cream, and Far Cry 2 was more than playable. But for more graphically demanding games, the GT 440 starts to sputter. In Lost Planet, for example, it wasn't until we dialed down the graphics settings to "Low" that we started to see playable framerates, and while that represents one of the more extreme cases, there weren't many instances the GT 440 felt like a suitable card for "serious gamers."

Check out some of its graphical stats:

Left 4 Dead 2, 1600x1200, High/Very High, 4xAA: 52.18

Far Cry 2 (DX10), 1600x1200, Ultra, 4xAA: 31.21

Lost Planet 2 (DX11), 1600x1200, High, 4xAA, Test B: 9.4

Lost Planet 2 (DX11), 1600x1200, High, 0xAA, Test B: 11.1

Lost Planet 2 (DX11), 1600x1200, Low, 0xAA, Test B: 38.3

Lost Planet 2 (DX11), 1280x1024, Low, 0xAA, Test B: 49.1

Lost Planet 2 (DX11), 1024x768, Low, 0xAA, Test B: 63.4

Messy Interior: We've seen worse interiors, and we've seen neater ones. To its credit, getting inside the K330 is a snap. But once you tear off the side panel, you'll wonder if Lenovo's housekeepers took the day off. There are zip ties strategically placed to keep things from turning into utter chaos, however the lack of braided cables combined with a chassis that doesn't promote cable management leaves the K330's interior in need of a cleanup.

Puny Power Supply: We're sure Lenovo qualifies its power supplies for reliability, and when we removed the PSU and picked it up, it had a fair amount of heft for its size (weight is one of many indicators of a PSU's quality -- lightweight units are indicative of cheap and/or skimpy components), so we're not totally put off by the generic label (Huntkey). We are, however, dismayed at the low wattage, which checks in at a paltry 280W, and lack of available connectors. Even if the power supply could handle a higher end graphics card, there aren't any 6-pin or 8-pin PCI Express connectors, and unfortunately videocards don't run on hopes and dreams alone. If you decide to upgrade your GPU to something more powerful, be ready to factor in the cost of a new power supply, too.

Gimmicky Power Dial: Lenovo includes a three-switch power dial on the front of the K330. Your options are "Cool," "Auto," and "Turbo," and selecting one over the other is supposed to affect how the system runs. In practice, it didn't make a lick of difference on our test machine, other than changing the color of the flame-lit LED that runs down the center of the case.

Pedestrian Keyboard and Mouse: Our machine shipped with a basic keyboard and mouse combo, neither of which won Lenovo any geek cred. The keyboard sports flattened keys akin to a notebook plank, only without the benefit of chicklet style keys, and the mouse is about as plain as you can get with left/right buttons and a scroll wheel. There aren't any side buttons, customizable gaming profiles, or other fancy features to give you an edge when fighting for your virtual life. It's a sufficient combination for dear old Aunt Agnes, but not Joe Gamer.

Our Verdict:

Unfortunately for Lenovo, the K330 doesn't live up to the hype. In addition to claiming the K330 offers "raw performance for serious gamers," Lenovo also describes the system as "an intense, powerful PC built to take your gaming and entertainment to a whole new level." There's some merit in pimping the K330's multimedia performance, but to promote the K330 as a hardcore gaming machine is a stretch at best. Nvidia's GeForce GT 440 doesn't even require a dedicated power source, which is a good thing since the included low wattage power supply doesn't come with any PCI-E connectors anyway.

We're also put off by the keyboard and mouse, two essential components for any serious gamer. Heck, the keyboard even comes equipped with an old school PS/2 connector, which in and of itself isn't necessarily damning, but the lack of gaming oriented features is, given the advertised audience.

There are some saving graces, like the quad-core processor built around Intel's mighty Sandy Bridge platform, and 8GB of DDR3 RAM. That combination gives the K330 enough muscle to somewhat compensate for the middling graphics card, and it's more than enough for the daily grind with a bit of content creation and other multimedia tasks thrown in. The tool-less design is a plus, we like the overall aesthetics, and the system runs quiet. Just don't jump into a K330 thinking you're going to drive through 3D games like a Ferrari. When it comes to gaming, the K330 is more like a Ford Taurus with a fresh coat of wax; an acceptable vehicle, but not one you're going to take to the race track.

Lenovo adds a little touch to the all-in-one (AIO) computing experience with the IdeaCentre A700. Built around Intel's Clarksfield architecture, the A700's foundation consists of a Core i7 740QM processor coupled with ATI's Mobility Radeon HD 5650 graphics hardware, both of which are packed inside a gorgeous looking 23-inch 1080p multi-touchscreen LED panel. Mixing strength with sex appeal, the A700 also boasts 8GB of DDR3 memory, a 1TB hard drive spinning at 7200RPM, and an optional Blu-ray reader.

Lenovo designed the A700 to be a multimedia powerhouse that combines the "performance of traditional desktop PCs" with "the fun features of an AIO design." It's equally suited for watching Blu-ray movies as it is for playing touch-sensitive games, and there's even an MCE remote that serves double-duty as an air-mouse. The IdeaCentre A700 at a glance:

23-inch LED backlit multi-touchscreen display (1920x1080p)

Intel Core i7 740QM (1.73GHz)

8GB DDR3-667

Seagate Barracuda 1TB 7200.12 w/ 32MB cache

ATI Mobility Radeon HD 5650

Blu-ray reader combo drive

6 USB 2.0 ports (2x side, 4x rear), Firewire (side), eSATA (side)

HDMI input / HDMI output

5-in-1 memory card reader

JBL speakers

Bluetooth keyboard, mouse, and MCE remote

Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit

What We Liked:

Aesthetics - Lenovo hit a homerun in the visual appeal department. The A700 is sleek, it's sexy, and would blend right in with a modern decor rather than detract from it. Black brushed aluminum adorns the rear, which unfortunately will rarely be seen, but the front consists of a glossy bezel with touch sensitive controls. And because the mouse, keyboard, and MCE remote are all wireless, the only cord you have to worry about hiding is the power cord.

Connectivity - With plenty of multimedia ports, the A700 is a highly flexible entertainment center always ready for action. There are six USB 2.0 ports, none of which are occupied by the included input peripherals, and a 5-in-1 media card reader makes it easy to shuffle digital photos and videos back and forth between the A700 and your handheld devices. Also included are HDMI input and output ports, so you can beam on-screen content to your HDTV or hook up an HDMI-capable device, like an Xbox 360 console. And whereas we've seen many systems choose between including a Firewire or eSATA port, the A700 comes with both.

Graphics - All-in-one PCs are often saddled with wimpy integrated graphics, but that isn't the case here. Equipped with an ATI Mobility Radeon HD 5650 chip, the A700 performed comparatively well in our graphics intensive benchmarks. It's not on the same playing field as a gaming oriented desktop graphics card, but there's certainly enough GPU horsepower here to play most games with modest visual quality settings. For those of you who like to keep score, the A700 scored 1075 in Futuremark's new 3DMark 11 benchmark during the Performance run, and 6870 in PCMark Vantage (6246 in the Gaming portion).

Gobs of RAM - With RAM prices continuing to plummet, OEMs are starting to cram more memory into their systems, and the A700 comes decked out with 8GB of DDR3. Windows doesn't actually need that much RAM, but it sure comes in handy if you're heavy into photo editing or other content creation tasks.

What We Didn't Like:

Rear Port Placement - Lenovo placed six out of eight USB ports in the rear of the A700, which means reaching around the back if youve utilized the two side-mounted ports. As an added challenge, the stand sits squarely in front of them. We'd rather have a couple more USB ports on the side.

Dated Components - The A700 isn't a slouch, but it is rocking last generation parts now that Intel released its Sandy Bridge platform. And while the Core i7 740QM is a quad-core chip, it's only clocked at 1.73GHz, meaning there's not a ton of oomph for single-threaded applications. Other notable omissions include no SuperSpeed USB 3.0 ports and the absence of a solid state drive (SSD), though the mechanical hard drive does spin at 7200RPM.

Fingerprint/Dust Magnet - Lenovo includes a lint-free cleaning cloth with the A700, and for good reason. You'll need it to combat the never-ending army of dust and fingerprints that find their way onto the glossy bezel.

Our Verdict

The IdeaCentre A700 is a stunningly gorgeous all-in-one (AIO) PC that not only blends in with a modern decor, but adds a bit of elegance to your living room, office, family room, or wherever you decide to put it. Beauty isn't only skin deep. On the inside sits an energetic ATI Mobility Radeon HD 5650 graphics chip rather than lethargic integrated graphics that typically chaperone AIO PCs.

The A700 is really about versatility. With a wireless mouse, keyboard, and MCE remote, you're free to roam your room and knock around the Internet without sitting two feet in front of the 24-inch LED panel. Alternately, the multi-touchscreen invites you to get hands-on with the A700, and is a fun way to go about your casual computing chores. There's also a Blu-ray reader and tons of input options.

We do have to point out that the A700 is now behind the curve, at least in terms of the processor. Intel's Sandy Bridge architecture is the current talk of the town, and without a solid state drive or USB 3.0 ports, you're not living on the bleeding edge here. Perhaps that's why the A700, as configured in this review, is a challenge to find online. We suspect Lenovo's getting ready to refresh its IdeaCentre line, which means you're better off waiting to see what the next-gen models bring to the table.

Lenovo's slogan, "What's your idea of fun?" says a lot about their line of All-In-One computers. It aims to be fun, practical and functional. I have to admit that it is all of these things. It has pre-loaded games aimed at really using the Natural Touch Panel (touch screen) as well as the optical multi-touch. It is practical in the sense that you really can use this for everyday activities, from looking up recipes while you're cooking (with the touch screen) to watching movies in HD. The Lenovo ideacentre B305 fits in tighter spots than conventional desktops and even some laptops. It also takes watching TV, zooming in on pictures and maps, and internet browsing to an all new level, wrapping up functionality. Here is what our product review included:

Natural Touch Panel - optical multi-touch - This had to be the best feature of this all-in-one computer. The ability to touch the screen and zoom in on a picture or map was amazing. If you have an iPhone, you will love this. Playing Mahjongg with your fingers rather than a mouse is a whole new ball game.

Multimedia and HD Playback - The b305 comes with a webcam with plenty of features. Video chatting couldn't have been easier. Facial tracking feature kept my image focused and crisp. The webcam is even used to alert the viewer if they are too close to the screen. HD playback was excellent in 1080p. This came with the help of the ATI Radeon HD5450 video card. Although not really a power house when it comes to graphical intensive gaming, does excel in HD video viewing.

WiFi - The Lenovo ideacentre B305 can go anywhere you have desktop space and still deliver you fast internet speed. Onboard WiFi allows you the option of putting it in more locations. The only requirement is a wireless router. The wireless card is B/G and N capable.

What We Didn't Like:

HDMI - Currently, no HDMI inputs are available on this product. In today's world of HD this and HD that, this should have been a requirement. Everything from digital cameras to Blu-ray players are HDMI. This should have been a no-brainer input option.

Dolby Surround and JBL Speakers - This combo should have packed a bigger punch. Movies and TV shows came out sounding lackluster and hollow. Common windows sounds were fine, but when it came to watching movies the lack of bass really affected the enjoyment of watching the movie. I will say though that this would not be bad in a kitchen where you would probably be watching the news or browsing the internet or the occasional Youtube video as you are preparing meals.

Volume Controls - You wouldn't think this would be a big deal. But it is. Since the speakers are onboard, volume controls should have been added as buttons or a control wheel. A remote control does come with the all-in-one unit but depending on the situation in which you use this computer will greatly affect the amount of frustration you will have when you have to find the remote or use the mouse to adjust the volume.

Our Verdict:

This part of the review is the hardest. It is completely situational in this case. If you plan to use this all-in-one computer in a kitchen setting where it's easier to use a touch screen rather than have space taken up by a keyboard and mouse, then this is a good solution for you. Remember though you will need the remote for volume control. If you plan on playing a lot of graphic intensive games, or watch movies with well-rounded sound, then you are out of luck. There are only two speakers, by the way. As I said before, one of the saving graces of this particular all-in-one is the multi-touch screen.

Price is something to look at also when trying to find the best fit for your family. Prices from other manufacturers, as of this date, fall into about the same category - the $800 to $1000 price range. Right now, the Lenovo ideacentre B305 is selling for $877. So it really is in that middle arena of pricing. Again, it comes down to, what will you use this for?

Before we examine this computer in detail, let's make a few things clear. The Studio Hybrid is definitely not for everyone. For most people, there are other computers in Dell's lineup that would suit them better. Those seeking a powerful desktop computer at the lowest prices should be looking at the Dell Inspiron Desktops. Those who desire mobility should be checking out the Dell Inspiron Laptops. The Studio Hybrid is for those who prefer (1) an aesthetically pleasing, physically compact, and still very capable desktop or (2) a multimedia home theater PC.

Aesthetics:

The Studio Hybrid is a work of art. We splurged and purchased the bamboo case option (+$130). The material is really made out of bamboo and looks and feels great. It will go very well with light-colored wood furniture (like most desks). However, don't think you have to pony up $130 to get a good looking case. The acrylic translucent casings, available in six colors at no extra cost, gives you a variety of attractive options. Even the chassis, which is finished in silver paint, looks great (the casing requires only one screw to remove). It feels very solidly constructed with no loose parts. It has a reassuring heft for such a small computer. The provided stand allows you mount the Studio Hybrid either horizontally or vertically. We recommend you stand it horizontally.

The front is a simple oblong black faade with air vents that run along the perimeter. The slot-load DVD burner, two USB 2.0 ports, and card reader are all integrated seamlessly with a bare minimum of icons. In fact, before you turn the Studio Hybrid on, you'll only see a single power button. The eject button, hard drive activity indicator, and Hybrid logo all illuminate a subtle white glow only after being powered on. No real practical advantage here, but pretty slick nonetheless.

At the rear, there are three more USB 2.0 ports. There are also the usual DVI, headphone/mic, gigabit ethernet, and AC ports. What's more impressive however, is the addition of HDMI and TOSLINK optical for easy hookup of digital audio and video to your home entertainment system. The rest of the rear is dominated by the 60mm fan, which cools the CPU heatsink that rests just behind it.

As a standard desktop:
Presence, or the lack of, is where the Studio Hybrid wins hands-down. The small size of the Studio Hybrid gives you TONS of space on your desk. The fan remains quiet, even when running processor intensive tasks. A standard keyboard and mouse are bundled with the computer, so all you really need is a monitor to get things started.

With the exception of one extra gigabyte of memory, our configuration was the lowest priced model. With that in mind, it did very well in most of the real-world tests we put it through. The Vista Home Premium operating system ran without any slowdowns. The Vista Home Premium operating system ran without any slowdowns. We used a 24" LCD monitor and it had no problems with the 1920x1200 (1080+) resolution. We tried browsing, photoshop, word processing, playing the included mini-games, watching standard DVD movies, and listening to music, and the Studio Hybrid chugged through all these simple tasks without breaking a sweat.

There were, however, a few minor issues. The 160GB hard drive used was a 2.5" notebook hard drive running at 5400rpm. File transfers kept us twiddling our fingers on more than one occasion. Also, although the onboard Intel X3100 graphics chipset performed quite capably with the graphical interface and for watching movies, the lack of a dedicated video card, and no possible expandibility, precludes the Studio Hybrid as a gaming computer or graphics workstation.

As a home theater PC:
In our opinion, this is how the Studio Hybrid should really be used. The compact size, versatility in orientation, and digital connectivity options make it a fantastic home HTPC. We hooked the Studio Hybrid up to a 46" 1080p LCD HDTV and a 5.1ch speaker system. Again, the X3100 chipset handled the 1920x1080 resolution well. Audio was also subjectively very good with clean highs and good detail, although your audio equipment will matter just as much as the source. Because Vista Home Premium is pre-installed, you also have access to Windows Media Center, a simple and attractive way to browse through music, videos, and photos on your PC.

Although our test unit did not have high-definition movie playing capabilities built-in, we devised another way play HD. We hooked up a Microsoft Xbox 360 HD DVD Player via USB 2.0 and installed PowerDVD. Vista recognized the player immediately, and PowerDVD supplied the drivers. We successfully ran through an entire showing of Matrix in HD-DVD. Unfortunately, the Studio Hybrid did not hold up; the picture at full screen was much too choppy. Because the movie ran smoothly in a smaller window, we arrived at two possible conclusions: (1) there were unforeseen conflicts with the HD-DVD player hardware or (2) the computer simply wasn't fast enough. The Studio Hybrid does have the option to add a Blu-Ray player, even with our configuration, so we're hoping that it's just a driver/firmware thing.

Conclusion:
As meisters who recognize the versatility of a home theater PC, we find the Studio Hybrid to be a compelling desktop. Its small size and color options makes it very easy to coordinate in any home or office. It also performs well in its most basic configuration, but you can beef it up all the way to an Intel Core 2 Duo 2.6GHz powerhouse with Blu-Ray, 3GB of memory, and 320GB of storage. With all that said, you are still paying a pretty penny for the compact size, and you won't get close to the mobility of a laptop. So, make sure you understand exactly what you're looking for before you pounce on this one.